ArticleThe American journal of the medical sciences2014
The effect of statin therapy on the incidence of infections: a retrospective cohort analysis.
Article in The American journal of the medical sciences, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Optimal Course of Statins for Patients With Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Is Longer Treatment Better? A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Metabolic Reprogramming in Respiratory Viral Infections: A Focus on SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Article
- Statin Use and Reduced Risk of Pneumonia in Patients with Melioidosis: A Lung-Specific Statin Association.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2024Article
- Article
- Statin Use and the Point Prevalence of Antibiotics in Ambulatory Patients with Diabetes in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2012.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Statins: a viable candidate for host-directed therapy against infectious diseases.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2019Review
- Article
- Roles of the Mevalonate Pathway and Cholesterol Trafficking in Pulmonary Host Defense.Current molecular pharmacology · 2017Article
- The Effect of Statins Use on the Risk and Outcome of Acute Bacterial Infections in Adult Patients.Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR · 2015Article
- Lipidome and transcriptome profiling of pneumolysin intoxication identifies networks involved in statin-conferred protection of airway epithelial cells.Scientific reports · 2015Article
- Compounds with anti-influenza activity: present and future of strategies for the optimal treatment and management of influenza. Part II: Future compounds against influenza virus.Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStatins have been postulated to prevent infection through immunomodulatory effects.
objectivesTo compare the incidence of infections in statin users to that in nonusers within the same health care system.
methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of patients enrolled as Tricare Prime or Plus in the San Antonio military multimarket. Statin users were patients who received a statin for at least 3 months between October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2005. Nonusers were patients who did not receive a statin within the study period (October 1, 2003-September 30, 2009). Inpatient and outpatient International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes were used to determine the incidence of infections during the follow-up period (October 1, 2005-September 30, 2009) via multivariable regression analysis and time to infection via Cox regression analysis.
resultsOf 45,247 patients who met the study criteria, 12,981 (29%) were statin users and 32,266 were nonusers. After adjustments for age, gender, Charlson Comorbidity Score, tobacco use, alcohol abuse/dependence, health care utilization and use of specific medication classes, statin use was associated with an increased incidence of common infections (odds ratio [OR]: 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-1.19) but not influenza or fungal infections (OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.80-1.39; OR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.91-1.04, respectively). Time-to-first infection was similar in statin users and nonusers in all infection categories examined.
conclusionsStatin use was associated with an increased incidence of common infections but not influenza or fungal infections. This study does not support a protective role of statins in infection prevention; however, the influence of potential confounders cannot be excluded.
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Registered trials
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