(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers from Jichi Medical School in Tochigi, Japan, are studying whether statins could be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Statins are a class of drugs used mostly to treat high cholesterol. Recently, they have been studied for inflammation and cell processes and immune response. Previous studies reveal statins could induce apoptosis (cell death) in normal cells and tumor cells.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes swelling of synovial tissue, the tissue lining the joints. This swelling is caused by or agitated when apoptosis of synovial cells is either insufficient or resistant to treatment. Researchers believe statins may induce apoptosis reducing the symptoms of RA. In the study, researchers tested two statins -- fluvastatin and pravastatin -- on human synovial cells from patients with RA.

Study authors say, "In the present study, we demonstrated that fluvastatin induced apoptosis in synoviocytes from patients with RA but not in those from patients with osteoarthropathy, suggesting that the apoptotic effect of fluvastatin is a mechanism for suppression of inflammatory arthritis such as RA by statins."

Further research is needed to determine exactly how effective the drugs are for people with RA. Researchers of the study say, "Based on these results, we propose that the statins warrant clinical trials as potential modifiers of RA."

SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, 2006;54:2:579-586