Statins in chronic kidney disease: what do meta-analyses tell us?

Dyslipidemia is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and previous reports indicate that a significant number of CKD patients with dyslipidemia do not receive statin therapy. This article reviews two recent meta-analyses on statin therapy in CKD which summarize results from randomized controlled trials that have reported on hard clinical outcomes and major adverse events. Despite differences in methodology, both meta-analyses show that statin therapy is safe and effective in preventing mortality and major cardiovascular events in non-dialysis-dependent CKD patients. However, there is very limited evidence to support the use of statins in patients on dialysis, and statin therapy was not found to be effective in reducing the risk of kidney failure or decline in kidney function.