Volume 27, Issue 137, July 2023

Do statins protect against Respiratory Tract Infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Safaa M Alsanosi^1♦, Asim M Alshanberi²

¹Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
ORCID: 0000-0002-6453-754X
²Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
ORCID: 0000-0002-5215-0049

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
ORCID: 0000-0002-6453-754X

ABSTRACT

Multiple studies have found no significant effect of the lipid-lowering drugs (statins) in reducing the risk of infections in general. However, there is a paucity of similar data on the comparative efficacy of statins on the risk of respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Methods: Publications of head-to-head randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of statins were retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane (from January 2000–December 2022). We included RCTs with at least 100 participants and with a minimum follow-up of one year. We selected the included trials, evaluated the risk of bias, and retrieved the data on RTIs. Meta-analyses were performed to summarise the pooled risk ratios (RRs) of RTIs between treatment arms. Results: The initial literature search identified 568 records. After duplicates were excluded, there were 318 records. Twenty-five RCTs were excluded after a full-text review of the 29 eligible studies. In the end, four RCTs with a total of 7,912 participants were included in our meta-analysis. The point estimate for the effect of statins was less than 1, however, it did not reach statistical significance in the total analysis (the pooled RR in the fixed effect model was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.04; I2=59%; χ2 p=0.66)). Conclusion: Our findings showed that statins do not reduce the risk of infections (including RTIs). Additional studies are needed to gain a better knowledge about the potential effect of statins.

Keywords: Stains, Respiratory Tract, Infection

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e310ms3152

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v27i137/e310ms3152

Published: 24 July 2023