Statins influence biomarkers of low grade inflammation in apparently healthy people or patients with chronic diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
PubMed 31228727 · doi:10.1016/j.cyto.2019.154752
What was done
A systematic review and meta-analysis searched PubMed, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and Google Scholar through December 2018 for randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials examining the effect of statins on serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations in apparently healthy adults or individuals with chronic diseases.
What was found
The review analyzed 18 studies (23 effect sizes) with 32,156 participants (38% female, 62% male; mean age 44.79 years): - All statins on CRP (16 studies, 21 effect sizes): Statins significantly decreased circulating CRP (Weighted Mean Difference [WMD]: -0.80; 95% CI: -1.05 to -0.56). - Atorvastatin on CRP (11 studies, 12 effect sizes): WMD -0.57 (95% CI: -0.78 to -0.35). - Simvastatin on CRP (2 studies, 5 effect sizes): WMD -0.29 (95% CI: -0.49 to -0.10; I² = 88.5%). - Atorvastatin on IL-6 (5 studies, 6 effect sizes): WMD -2.13 (95% CI: -3.96 to -0.30; I² = 98.6%).
Why it matters
This meta-analysis provides pooled randomized controlled evidence that statin therapy reduces key systemic inflammatory biomarkers (CRP and IL-6) across healthy populations and those with chronic diseases.
Limits
Statistical heterogeneity was extremely high for reported subgroup analyses (I² = 88.5% for simvastatin on CRP; I² = 98.6% for atorvastatin on IL-6). The abstract combines healthy individuals and unspecified chronic disease cohorts without reporting disease-stratified outcomes, omits measurement units for the effect sizes, and evaluates only atorvastatin and simvastatin.
Cited by
- supports Statins reduce C-reactive protein levels by roughly 17%.