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New research explains how statins may cause muscle damage October 21, 2026 · 3:38 · Science and the planet · With Maya and Nora
Nora, researchers have reported a possible explanation for muscle injury linked to some statin users.
Transcript Maya Welcome to Slow English FM. This is Science and the Planet, where we look at research and what it may mean. I’m Maya, and Nora is our columnist for science and the environment. Today, we’re asking how a cholesterol medicine may affect muscle cells. Maya Nora, researchers have reported a possible explanation for muscle injury linked to some statin users. What did they find? Nora They studied how statins interact with a protein called RyR1. It is a channel in muscle cells that controls the movement of calcium. Calcium helps muscle cells work, so the amount and timing of its movement matter. The researchers used a method called cryo-electron microscopy. It lets scientists make detailed images of tiny structures. Their images showed how atorvastatin, a type of statin, binds to RyR1. Maya So what happens to the channel when the medicine binds to it? Nora The researchers report that three statin molecules bind in sequence inside a part of the channel. The first binds while the channel is closed. Then two more bind, and the channel is held open. Calcium can then leak into the cell without the usual control. Maya And that leak may harm the muscle cell? Nora Researchers say the continuing leak can create conditions that injure muscle tissue. The finding gives a possible molecular link between a statin and muscle injury: the drug binds to a muscle protein, changes how its channel works, and allows calcium to escape. Maya How strong is that link? Does this show that the channel explains every muscle symptom reported by people taking statins? Nora The study describes a mechanism seen in structural images. It may help explain muscle complications in some patients. It is a finding about how the drug can interact with the protein. Maya Was RyR1’s possible role entirely new to researchers? Nora Earlier work had also examined statins and RyR1. A 2019 doctoral thesis at Oxford reported that statins could activate the channel in single-channel experiments, and that this effect could be separated from the drugs’ intended cholesterol-lowering action. The newer work adds structural images of how atorvastatin binds and how that binding can hold the channel open. Maya The researchers also discuss designing different statins. What might this finding make possible? Nora The research release says the binding details could guide work on modified statins designed not to activate RyR1. That is a research direction. The main value of the finding is that it gives researchers a specific interaction to study and possibly avoid when designing medicines. Maya The study focused on atorvastatin. Nora Yes. The structural study helps explain one possible route to muscle injury. The paper was published in Nature Communications in November 2025. Maya That was Nora, our science and environment columnist, on research into statins and muscle cells. Thanks for listening to Science and the Planet on Slow English FM.
