Statins: The paradigm shift in periodontal regeneration

Abstract

Statins, the lipid-lowering drugs, provide an important and effective approach for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and arteriosclerosis. They function by reducing the blood cholesterol levels which came as a marked discovery to intervene in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases related to increased lipid levels. Their long-term systemic administration in humans has been shown to result in increased bone mineral density. In recent scenario, statins thus modulate bone metabolism exhibiting antibone resorbing properties by upregulating the bone morphogenic proteins and blocking the intermediate metabolites of the mevalonate pathway, made evident by various in vivo and in vitro studies thus providing a new direction in the field of periodontal regeneration. Statins also offered the added advantage of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Thus, the use of statins both systemically and locally gained wide acceptance by the periodontists as they have shown to increase the bone mineral density and may be effective for periodontal regeneration by stimulation of regenerative factors. This article reviews the beneficial effect of statins and examines their potential role in regenerative periodontal therapy.

Keywords

• bone morphogenic proteins
• periodontal regeneration
• periodontitis
• statins