Mohammed A Batais1, Abdur Rahman Khan2, Aref A Bin Abdulhak3. 1. College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 29391, Saudi Arabia. drmohammed34@gmail.com. 2. Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA. 3. Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 200 Hawkins Dr., Int. Med. E315 GH, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is still associated with a large burden and causes significant morbidity and mortality. Besides universal vaccination and antibiotic treatment, statins as adjunctive therapy may also have a beneficial role in the prevention and treatment of CAP. Our goal from this review is to discuss the epidemiology of CAP, and role of statins as adjunctive therapy in the development of CAP. RECENT FINDINGS: Statins are lipid-lowering medications characterized by their ability to control hypercholesterolemia in addition to other pleiotropic effects that could explain their role in the pathogenesis of CAP. While most observational studies have shown that statins reduce risk of pneumonia in the general population, patients with diabetes, and recently in patients with myocardial infarction, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) to date has been conducted to assess the efficacy of statins to prevent development of CAP. Given the paucity of robust randomized evidence to assess statin use and the development of CAP, and considering conflicting results of the observational studies, we are not in favor of initiation of statins for either the prevention or treatment of CAP.
PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is still associated with a large burden and causes significant morbidity and mortality. Besides universal vaccination and antibiotic treatment, statins as adjunctive therapy may also have a beneficial role in the prevention and treatment of CAP. Our goal from this review is to discuss the epidemiology of CAP, and role of statins as adjunctive therapy in the development of CAP. RECENT FINDINGS: Statins are lipid-lowering medications characterized by their ability to control hypercholesterolemia in addition to other pleiotropic effects that could explain their role in the pathogenesis of CAP. While most observational studies have shown that statins reduce risk of pneumonia in the general population, patients with diabetes, and recently in patients with myocardial infarction, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) to date has been conducted to assess the efficacy of statins to prevent development of CAP. Given the paucity of robust randomized evidence to assess statin use and the development of CAP, and considering conflicting results of the observational studies, we are not in favor of initiation of statins for either the prevention or treatment of CAP.
Authors: Seema Jain; Derek J Williams; Sandra R Arnold; Krow Ampofo; Anna M Bramley; Carrie Reed; Chris Stockmann; Evan J Anderson; Carlos G Grijalva; Wesley H Self; Yuwei Zhu; Anami Patel; Weston Hymas; James D Chappell; Robert A Kaufman; J Herman Kan; David Dansie; Noel Lenny; David R Hillyard; Lia M Haynes; Min Levine; Stephen Lindstrom; Jonas M Winchell; Jacqueline M Katz; Dean Erdman; Eileen Schneider; Lauri A Hicks; Richard G Wunderink; Kathryn M Edwards; Andrew T Pavia; Jonathan A McCullers; Lyn Finelli Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2015-02-26 Impact factor: 91.245
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