Among individuals admitted to hospitals with sepsis, statin users had a lower mortality, compared with nonstatin users, according to a recent analysis focused on a large and diverse cohort of patients in California.
Mortality hazard ratios at 30 and 90 days were lower by about 20% for statin users admitted for sepsis, compared with nonstatin users, according to results of the retrospective cohort study.
Hydrophilic and synthetic statins had more favorable mortality outcomes, compared with lipophilic and fungal-derived statins, respectively, added investigator Brannen Liang, MD, a third-year internal medicine resident at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.
These findings suggest a potential benefit of statins in patients with sepsis, with certain types of statins having a greater protective effect than others, according to Liang, who presented the original research in a presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held virtually this year.
"I think there's potential for extending the use of statins to other indications, such as sepsis," Liang said in an interview, though he also cautioned that the present study is hypothesis generating and more research is necessary.
Using a certain statin type over another (i.e., a hydrophilic, synthetic statin) might be a consideration for populations who are at greater risk for sepsis, such as the immunocompromised, patients with diabetes, or elderly and who also require a statin for an indication such as hyperlipidemia, he added.
