Statins and risk of peptic ulcer disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Association of statin use with risk of depression and anxiety: A prospective large cohort study

OBJECTIVES

To examine associations between regular statin use and the incidence of depression and anxiety.

METHODS

This cohort was based on UK Biobank participants without depression/anxiety recruited between 2006 and 2010. The self-reported regular statin use was collected at baseline. Depression and anxiety outcomes were assessed by diagnostic interviews (international classification of diseases codes) and nondiagnostic scales (mental well-being questionnaires). Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for a wide range of confounders were used to estimate associations of statins with incident depression/anxiety.

RESULTS

Among 363,551 eligible participants, 55,838 reported regular statin use. During a 13-year follow-up, 14,765 cases of depression and 15,494 cases of anxiety were identified. Compared with non-statin users, statin use was associated with reduced risk of depression (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81, 0.94) and anxiety (HR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.84, 0.97). Effects of statins on depression were consistent in sensitivity analyses and may be less influenced by unmeasured confounders. However, results of online survey data showed that statin use might not be associated with incident anxiety (HR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.85, 1.09).

CONCLUSION

Regular statin use was associated with a lower risk of depression. No clear associations between statin use and anxiety were found.

Possible link between statin and iron deficiency anemia: A South Korean nationwide population-based cohort study

An extensive evaluation of disease occurrence after statin use based on a "hypothesis-free" approach remains scarce. To examine the effect of statin use on the potential risk of developing diseases, a propensity score-matched cohort study was executed using data from the National Sample Cohort in South Korea. A total of 7847 statin users and 39,235 nonstatin users were included in the final analysis. The period of statin use was defined as our main time-dependent exposure and was divided into three periods: current, recent, and past. The main outcomes were defined as new-onset diseases with ≥100 events based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision. We calculated the adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using Cox regression. We found that statin use significantly increased the risk of developing iron deficiency anemia up to 5.04 times (95% CI, 2.11 to 12.03). Therefore, the iron levels of patients using statins should be monitored carefully.

Adverse drug reactions of statin therapy in China from 1989 to 2019: a national database analysis

BACKGROUND

The baseline incidence of the adverse events of statin therapy varies between countries. Notably, Chinese patients seem more susceptible to myopathy induced by simvastatin.

OBJECTIVES

This research studies the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of statin therapy in China by analysing trial-based data from the Anti-hyperlipidaemic Drug Database built by the China National Medical Products Administration Information Centre.

METHODS

All clinical trials involving statin therapy (including simvastatin, atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin and rosuvastatin) in China from 1989 to 2019 were screened. In total, 569 clinical studies with 37 828 patients were selected from 2650 clinical trials in the database.

RESULTS

Among the reported cases with ADRs (2822/37 828; 7.460%), gastrointestinal symptoms were the most common (1491/37 828; 3.942%), followed by liver disease (486/37 828; 1.285%), muscle symptoms (444/37 828; 1.174%) and neurological symptoms (247/37 828; 0.653%). Pravastatin (231/1988; 11.620%) caused the most common gastrointestinal side effects, followed by fluvastatin (333/3094; 10.763%). The least likely to cause gastrointestinal irritation was rosuvastatin (82/1846; 4.442%).

CONCLUSION

In Chinese clinical trials, gastrointestinal symptoms were the most common ADR of statin use for hyperlipidaemia and other cardiovascular diseases.