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SELECTED ARTICLES FROM THE RECENT LITERATURE 2007
November 2, 2007
Statins and a long-term decline in lung function
Summary
It has become apparent that statins have pharmacologic affects other than diminished cholesterol production. They are antioxidants and antiinflammatory agents that can reduce levels of C-reactive protein and the results of oxidative stress. Since long-term declines in FEV1 have been postulated to be related to inflammatory activity, a group of investigators decided to look at whether or not the administration of statins might diminish the decline in lung function that occurs with age and which is accelerated in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and in some patients with asthma.
Their study population consisted of 803 elderly men participating in the Normative Aging Study. They clearly found an affect of statin on the decline in FEV1 in this population, which consisted of "elderly men." For those not using statins, the estimated decline in FEV1 was 23.9 ml/year whereas those taking statins had an estimated 10.9 ml/year decline. When they subsegmented the population into "never-smokers," "long-time quitters," and "current smokers," they found that, within each smoking category, the effect of statins was always estimated to be beneficial, but the size of the improvement in decline in FEV1 was blunted by smoking.
Editor's Comments
The effect of statin shown in this study, for the group overall, was highly significant. Asthma, per se, was not evaluated, but this observation certainly provokes interest in determining whether or not this beneficial effect extends to the asthmatic subpopulation that exhibits an accelerated decline in FEV1 over time (presumably related to remodeling).
Reference
Alexeeff SE, et al. Statin use reduces decline in lung function: VA Normative Aging Study. In: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2007; 176(8):742-747."
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