Association between Statin Use and Sepsis Risk in Patients with Dementia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

This study investigated the association of statin use with sepsis risk in patients with dementia. This retrospective cohort study was conducted in Taiwan by using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database. We identified and enrolled 308 patients with newly diagnosed dementia who used statin after dementia diagnosis. These patients were individually propensity score matched (1:1) according to age, sex, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, renal disease, liver disease, asthma, malignancy, parkinsonism, and dementia drugs used (donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, and memantine) with 251 controls (statin non-users). A Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio for sepsis in statin users and non-users. After adjustment for other confounding factors, the incidence of sepsis in statin users was 1.42-fold higher than that in non-users (95% confidence interval = 0.81–2.5). In conclusion, our analysis showed no positive association of sepsis with statin use in patients with dementia.

Characteristics, laboratories, and prognosis of severe COVID-19 in the Tokyo metropolitan area: A retrospective case series

“…Extent of immune reactions, i.e., gene expression levels in immune cells, may be one of the important determining factors of severity as shown in a single-cell analysis of bronchoalveolar immune cells [ 22 ]. Indeed, in our patients, consistent with the recent reports [ 23 ], lymphopenia was more observed in Group S than Group M. In addition, the comorbid lipid disorders were more prevalent in Group S patients, which might be associated with abnormal inflammatory processes caused by deteriorated lipid metabolisms [ 24 , 25 ].…”

“…As for Group M patients, most of them received ciclesonide and/or favipiravir, and none required mechanical ventilation ( S1 Table ). The median hospital cost for the patients in Group S was approximately $33,099 [ 24 ,475–66,712]. During their respective clinical course, three patients in Group S were found to have pneumothorax most likely associated with positive airway pressure.…”

“…Whereas white blood cell counts were higher in Group S (6.85 vs. 5.5×10 3 /μL, p<0.05), lymphocytes were Table). The median hospital cost for the patients in Group S was approximately $33,099 [24,712].…”

Statins and cognition: Modifying factors and possible underlying mechanisms

“…These results suggest that the effect of statins on sepsis is not correlated to their lipid-lowering potency ( Lee et al, 2018 ). However, in a retrospective cohort study, no association was found between statin use and sepsis risk in patients with dementia ( Yeh et al, 2019 ). Moreover, the protective effect of statins on sepsis in clinical trials has yielded conflicting results which may be explained by different treatment duration and dosages.…”

Protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis: impact of statins as immune-modulatory agents on inflammatory markers in adults with chronic diseases

“…50 Inversely, in patients with dementia statin, therapy was associated with increased risk of infection. 51 However, it was reported that statin use in patients with asthma chronic pulmonary disease overlap syndrome was associated with lower tuberculosis (TB) and pneumonia risks after adjustment for multiple confounding factors. 52 Statin use was also associated with a lower risk of active TB.…”