"Legacy effects" of statin therapy in ASCOT-LLA: 14% reduction in all-cause mortality

Los hallazgos recientemente descritos sobre la disminución de mortalidad secundaria probablemente a los efectos antiinfecciosos de las estatinas, fueron ya discutidos en éste blog el año pasado: 
http://drvictorcastaneda.blogspot.com/2010/12/otro-beneficio-antiinfeccioso-de-las.html

Resumen:   Aug 28/2011

Looking more closely at deaths from noncardiovascular causes, investigators found that deaths due to cancer were not statistically significant between those treated with atorvastatin vs placebo. There was, however, a significant 36% reduction in deaths due to infection and respiratory illness (HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42-0.97), driven primarily by deaths due to infection.

During the session, Sever noted there are emerging data on the effects of statins on infection, with preclinical studies showing statins modulate neutrophil function, reduce proinflammatory cytokine release, improve vascular function, have antithrombotic properties, and improve outcomes from pneumonia and sepsis. Results of other observational studies have suggested that prior statin use also reduces mortality from sepsis. Despite these observations, Sever said that there is still the possibility of confounding bias in some of the observational studies that have shown a benefit of statins in pneumonia and sepsis and that caution should be used when interpreting such results until a randomized clinical trial is performed.

Artículo completo:  http://www.theheart.org/article/1269619.do