Statins are used daily by a large and increasing number of individuals worldwide. They were initially designed as 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutharyl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoAR) inhibitors to treat patients with hypercholesterolemia. Recent studies on HCV chronically infected individuals have suggested that their use in vivo in combination with PEG-IFN and ribavirin favor the sustained viral response (SVR). Herein, we describe the effects of a set of statins on HCV entry and on HCV key entry factors in vitro. Our results suggest that all tested statins exert a proviral effect through the upregulation of LDLR. Interestingly, at higher concentration, we also provide evidence of a yet unknown competing antiviral effect of statins (except for pravastatin) through the downregulation of CLDN-1. Importantly, this work enlightens the blunt proviral effect of pravastatin at the entry step of HCV in vitro.
Keywords: CD81; CLDN-1; Cholesterol; HCV; LDLR; Lipids; NPC1L1; PCSK9; Statins.
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