Statins, inflammation, and sepsis: hypothesis.

Sepsis and septic shock are complex inflammatory syndromes. Multiple cellular activation processes are involved, and many humoral cascades are triggered. Statins have anti-inflammatory properties. Our preliminary observations indicate that patients receiving therapy with statins may have a lower incidence of severe sepsis. We hypothesize that statins have a strong protective effect against sepsis by virtue of diverse anti-inflammatory effects that are independent of their lipid-lowering ability.