Effect of simvastatin on serum C-reactive protein during hormone replacement therapy

Because statins seem to attenuate the early, increased cardiovascular hazard induced by hormone replacement therapy (HRT), we treated 16 postmenopausal hypercholesterolemic women with coronary artery disease with combined HRT, simvastatin, and the combination of HRT and simvastatin in a double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled study; we also evaluated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels at the end of each treatment period. We found that only HRT significantly increased CRP compared with placebo, whereas the combination of HRT with simvastatin did not. We concluded that statins may reduce the inflammatory adverse effects associated with the CRP increase induced by HRT.