A drug used to reduce cholesterol and protect against cardiovascular disease may improve bone repair in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), results of an animal study suggest.

Lab research conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, found that the drug Lovastatin aids bone healing in a mouse model of human NF1 disease.

The study examined the process of bone repair seven days, 14 days and 28 days after the researchers drilled a 0.5mm hole in the tibia of anaesthetised mice.

According to the results, mice given the statin treatment showed notable improvements in bone repair compared to the control models.

Commenting on the findings, lead researcher Mateusz Kolanczyk said: "Our results suggest the usefulness of lovastatin, a drug approved in 1987 for the treatment of high cholesterol, in the treatment of neurofibromatosis-related fracture healing abnormalities."

Common symptoms of NF1 include bowing, spontaneous fractures and pseudarthrosis (incomplete healing) of the tibia.

At present, therapies used to treat pseudarthrosis of the tibia are mostly ineffective and often result in the need for amputation.

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