Statins and stroke.

Statins play an important role in brain ischemia. These drugs reduce cholesterol levels, which have been related to a reduction in vascular event risk, but they also have other functions besides cholesterol metabolism, called pleiotropic effects. Statins play an important role during the acute phase of ischemia, and might have neuroprotective effects, as they act in several mechanisms during the acute phase of stroke, such as in nitric oxide (NO) and glutamate metabolism, inflammation, platelet aggregation, immune responses and apoptosis. They also have other functions that can be related, with better long-term outcome, to neurorepair mechanisms. Statins promote angiogenesis, endogenous cell proliferation, neurogenesis and new synapse formation.