Black Plague Resurgent Throughout the World, Lovastatin Protects Animals From Deadly Effects

The black plague is making a comeback across the globe, say French researchers. The Plague of Justinian in the 6th and 7th centuries is the first known attack on record, and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of bubonic plague. After the plague of Justinian the known world moved into the Dark Ages. From historical descriptions, as much as 40% of the population of Constantinople died from the plague. After 750, major epidemic diseases did not appear again in Europe until the Black Death of the 14th century

An experimental study has revealed that lovastatin, a drug prescribed for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, protects animals against the deadly effects of the black plague. This infectious disease is on the upsurge in parts of the world. These results obtained by scientists at the Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (CNRS/Université Aix-Marseille 2) have been published in the journal PLoS ONE.

Yersinia pestis, cause of Black Death, after Gram staining

Image credit: © URMITE/ CNRS

Statins are a class of medicinal products administered to reduce cholesterol levels in people at risk of suffering heart disease because of their hypercholesterolemia. Of the six statin compounds available, lovastatin was the first to be introduced onto the market. Although studies have already demonstrated that this drug can prevent the mortality and morbidity associated with severe infections, no results concerning the bacterium that causes fatal plague, called Yersinia pestis, had been available until now.

After inoculating small rodents with the Yersinia pestis bacterium, the team led by Didier Raoult and Michel Drancourt at the URMITE(1) (CNRS/Université Aix-Marseille 2) showed that animals treated with lovastatin presented fewer and less severe infections. Lovastatin therefore has preventive properties against plague mortality in an animal model. This experimental study also reveals that this statin has no direct antibiotic effect against Yersinia pestis but that it prevents the development of septicemia.

Inspired by Black Death, The Dance of Death in the German printed edition, folio CCLXI recto from Hartman Schedel's Chronicle of the World (Nuremberg, 1493) thought to be created by Michael Wolgemut,  is an allegory on the universality of death and a common painting motif in late medieval period.

Image: Wikipedia Commons

These findings suggest that people receiving statin-based treatment to reduce their cholesterol levels may be protected against the deadly effects of plague. The cause of severe epidemics over the last two thousand years, plague is now considered as a resurgent disease throughout the world. Nearly 50% of cases worldwide are reported in Madagascar, but plague is present in Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Tanzania), Asia (Vietnam) and America, while a few very limited outbreaks have been observed in Europe on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Colonies of Yersinia pestis after culture on CIN agar

Image credit: © URMITE/ CNRS

Source: CNRS