Could Statins Do More than Lower Cholesterol in COVID-19 Patients?

A history of acute myocardial Infarction, cardiac failure or hyperlipidemia has been associated with increased mortality of COVID-19.

indicación de tratamiento con estatinas

Observational studies have suggested statins might reduce death risk from COVID-19, in addition to lowering cholesterol. 

Statins have anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic effects that could play a role in the course of the infection. 

Other studies have arrived to completely opposite conclusions. Statins could worsen or at least increase the chance of infection according to Italian authors, published in JAMA. Statins, together with other drugs also used in atherosclerosis patients, might increase the number of angiotensin conversion receptors.  These receptors are the SARS-CoV-2 gateway into cells. 

Statin users and non-users were matched with propensity score to carry out studies. Apart from this, they are similar in every respect. These study outcomes were not able to link statins with a short-term benefit, unlike the observational studies. 


Read also: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm during the Pandemic: Should They Be Operated or Deferred?


An article published by Gupta et al looked at 1296 patients hospitalized in New York for COVID-19, observed 26.5% mortality among non-users vs 14.8% statin users. It arrived to similar conclusions in a population of 1179 patients from Massachusetts General Hospital.

A meta-analysis of 9 studies carried out in the US and China reached similar results that one from Denmark based on their national database. 

Given the lack of randomized evidence, we cannot indicate statins to reduce the risk of catching COVID-19, but neither should we discontinue its use when it has been prescribed against cardiovascular factors.

jama-rubin-2021-mn-210029-1624316973-71883

Original Title: Could Statins Do More Than Lower Cholesterol in Patients With COVID-19?

Reference: Rita Rubin. JAMA. 2021 Jun 22;325(24):2424-2425. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.8201.


Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

Get the latest scientific articles on interventional cardiology

More articles by this author

Is the Booster Dose Against COVID-19 Effective for All Ages?

The answer is incontrovertible: it is undeniably effective. For all ages, the confirmed COVID19 and severe case rates were significantly lower for patients who...

Pfizer Booster Dose Efficacy against Omicron

The BNT162b2 vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech) has previously shown a 95% efficacy against COVID-19. This efficacy has been changing with the surge of new variants and,...

Once Again, the Omicron Variant Tests the Limits of Healthcare Systems, But with Hope

The latest significant COVID-19 variant, the Omicron, is again pushing healthcare systems around the world onto the verge of collapse, having reached over 300...

The Most Read Articles of 2021: COVID-19

A new year is coming to an end and at SOLACI we are going over the most read studies on our website, on COVID-19. Follow...

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related Articles

SOLACI Sessionsspot_img

Recent Articles

TCT 2024 | FAVOR III EUROPA

The study FAVOR III EUROPA, a randomized trial, included 2,000 patients with chronic coronary syndrome, or stabilized acute coronary syndrome, and intermediate lesions. 1,008...

TCT 2024 | TRISCEND II

This randomized study included 400 patients; 267 were treated with EVOQUE valve and 133 with optimal medical treatment (OMT). After one-year follow-up, there were no...

TCT 2024 – ACCESS-TAVI: Comparing Percutaneous Access Closure Strategies After TAVI

Vascular access complications following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remain common. However, few studies compare vascular access closure methods.  Based on the CHOICE-CLOSURE and MASH...