Trial reportCirculation2003
Short-term statin therapy improves cardiac function and symptoms in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Trial report in Circulation, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 92 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 412 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Efficacy of Different Drugs for the Treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Drugs in R&D · 2023Pooled it
- Optimal effectiveness of heart failure management - an umbrella review of meta-analyses examining the effectiveness of interventions to reduce (re)hospitalizations in heart failure.Heart failure reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of Statins on Serum level of hs-CRP and CRP in Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Mediators of inflammation · 2022Pooled it
- No benefits of statins for sudden cardiac death prevention in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PloS one · 2017 · on this mapPooled it
- Effects of statin treatment on cardiac function in patients with chronic heart failure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Clinical cardiology · 2011Pooled it
- Statins in the treatment of chronic heart failure: a systematic review.PLoS medicine · 2006Pooled it
- Statin therapy decreases N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in HIV: randomized placebo-controlled trial.AIDS (London, England) · 2015Trial
- Trial
- The influence of atorvastatin on parameters of inflammation left ventricular function, hospitalizations and mortality in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy--5-year follow-up.Lipids in health and disease · 2013Trial
- Statin therapy lowers muscle sympathetic nerve activity and oxidative stress in patients with heart failure.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2012Trial
- Statins do not significantly affect muscle sympathetic nerve activity in humans with nonischemic heart failure: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial.Journal of cardiac failure · 2011Trial
- Atorvastatin therapy is associated with reduced levels of N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide and improved cardiac function in patients with heart failure.Clinical cardiology · 2008Trial
- Short-term statin treatment improves endothelial function and neurohormonal imbalance in normocholesterolaemic patients with non-ischaemic heart failure.Heart (British Cardiac Society) · 2006Trial
- Allopurinol reduces B-type natriuretic peptide concentrations and haemoglobin but does not alter exercise capacity in chronic heart failure.Heart (British Cardiac Society) · 2005Trial
- The role of IL-6 in hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy: clinical and therapeutic implications.Heart failure reviews · 2026Review
- Targeting intracellular cholesterol imbalance rescues sarcomere-ER contact site signaling and ER remodeling in dilated cardiomyopathy.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Article
- Beyond LDL Cholesterol Reduction: Pleiotropic Profiling of Statins.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2025Review
- Therapies for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy: Current Perspectives and Future Possibilities.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Statins and Cardiomyocyte Metabolism, Friend or Foe?Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2023Review
- A Comprehensive Insight and Mechanistic Understanding of the Lipidomic Alterations Associated With DCM.JACC. Asia · 2023Review
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic heart failure is associated with inflammation and neurohormonal imbalance. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, or statins, exert anti-inflammatory and vascular protective effects. We hypothesized that short-term statin therapy may have beneficial effects in patients with nonischemic heart failure. METHODS AND
resultsSixty-three patients with symptomatic, nonischemic, dilated cardiomyopathy were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group received simvastatin (n=24), and the other group received placebo (n=27). The initial dose of simvastatin was 5 mg/d, which was increased to 10 mg/d after 4 weeks. After 14 weeks, patients receiving simvastatin exhibited a modest reduction in serum cholesterol level compared with patients receiving placebo (130+/-13 versus 148+/-18, P<0.05). Patients treated with simvastatin had a lower New York Heart Association functional class compared with patients receiving placebo (2.04+/-0.06 versus 2.32+/-0.05, P<0.01). This corresponded to improved left ventricular ejection fraction in the simvastatin group (34+/-3 to 41+/-4%, P<0.05) but not in the placebo group. Furthermore, plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and brain natriuretic peptide were significantly lower in the simvastatin group compared with the placebo group.
conclusionsShort-term statin therapy improves cardiac function, neurohormonal imbalance, and symptoms associated with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. These findings suggest that statins may have therapeutic benefits in patients with heart failure irrespective of serum cholesterol levels or atherosclerotic heart disease.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.