Statins will substitute antibiotics in treatment of numerous infections

Scientists from University of Edinburgh have found...

that when a person is ill with any infectious disease, his organism naturally decreases cholesterol level in blood, as viruses and bacteria are "nourished" with it. That is why restriction of its production blocks reproductive ability of bacteria.

Cholesterol is essential for normal functioning of the organism. But excessively high levels of its content in blood may lead to atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. Medicinal preparations called statins are called to fight high cholesterol level. In addition, statins can stimulate and strengthen the immune system. Scientists are going to create new preparation on the basis of statins, which will be able to imitate signals of the immune system and will have a more goal-directed action.

Professor Peter Ghazal states that such preparations may be used as an alternative to existing antibiotics. They allow avoiding problems of the occurrence antibiotic-resistant bacteria and will act in the way similar to that of the organism, when it responses to infections.  

Adopted from: The Telegraph