Statins and cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's and mixed dementia: a longitudinal registry-based cohort study

This cohort study of patients with dementia appears to show that statins seem to reduce the rate of progression of cognitive decline. That is certainly reassuring for those of us who have been concerned about whether we are depriving our brain cells of the cholesterol they require. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Background
Disturbances in brain cholesterol homeostasis may be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Lipid-lowering medications could interfere with neurodegenerative processes in AD through cholesterol metabolism or other mechanisms.

Objective
To explore the association between the use of lipid-lowering medications and cognitive decline over time in a cohort of patients with AD or mixed dementia with indication for lipid-lowering treatment.

Methods
A longitudinal cohort study using the Swedish Registry for Cognitive/Dementia Disorders, linked with other Swedish national registries. Cognitive trajectories evaluated with mini-mental state examination (MMSE) were compared between statin users and non-users, individual statin users, groups of statins and non-statin lipid-lowering medications using mixed-effect regression models with inverse probability of drop out weighting. A dose-response analysis included statin users compared to non-users.

Results
Our cohort consisted of 15,586 patients with mean age of 79.5 years at diagnosis and a majority of women (59.2 %). A dose-response effect was demonstrated: taking one defined daily dose of statins on average was associated with 0.63 more MMSE points after 3 years compared to no use of statins (95% CI: 0.33;0.94). Simvastatin users showed 1.01 more MMSE points (95% CI: 0.06;1.97) after 3 years compared to atorvastatin users. Younger (< 79.5 years at index date) simvastatin users had 0.80 more MMSE points compared to younger atorvastatin users (95% CI: 0.05;1.55) after 3 years. Simvastatin users had 1.03 more MMSE points (95% CI: 0.26;1.80) compared to rosuvastatin users after 3 years. No differences regarding statin lipophilicity were observed. The results of sensitivity analysis restricted to incident users were not consistent.

Conclusions
Some patients with AD or mixed dementia with indication for lipid-lowering medication may benefit cognitively from statin treatment; however, further research is needed to clarify the findings of sensitivity analyses

Author/s:

Bojana Petek, Henrike Häbel, Hong Xu, Marta Villa-Lopez, Irena Kalar, Minh Tuan Hoang, Silvia Maioli, Joana B Pereira, Shayan Mostafaei, Bengt Winblad, Milica Gregoric Kramberger, Maria Eriksdotter, Sara Garcia-Ptacek

Evaluating the Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction and Relative and Absolute Effects of Statin Treatment

Rowan Hutchins — Sat, 06 May 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

May 6, 2023

Journal/Publication:

JAMA Intern Med

Publisher:

JAMA

Publication Date:

March 14, 2022

Issue:

Volume:

182

URL:

Evaluating the Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction and Relative and Absolute Effects of Statin Treatment

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.0134

Keywords

adult

cholesterol

stroke prevention

PMID (1):

35285850

MeSH

Cardiovascular Disease

cholesterol, LDL

Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors* / therapeutic use

myocardial infarction

The modest reduction in all-cause mortality affected by statins is largely independent of the amount of LDL cholesterol reduction suggesting a somewhat lipid independent anti-inflammatory effect. Two caveats: 1)The 0.8% absolute risk reduction is per around 3 years, so longer term treatment will have more impact; 2) absolute risk reduction is directly proportional to baseline risk, so higher risk individuals will benefit more. James W. Mold, MD, MPH.

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Importance The association between statin-induced reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and the absolute risk reduction of individual, rather than composite, outcomes, such as all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, or stroke, is unclear.

Objective To assess the association between absolute reductions in LDL-C levels with treatment with statin therapy and all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke to facilitate shared decision-making between clinicians and patients and inform clinical guidelines and policy.

Data Sources PubMed and Embase were searched to identify eligible trials from January 1987 to June 2021.

Study Selection Large randomized clinical trials that examined the effectiveness of statins in reducing total mortality and cardiovascular outcomes with a planned duration of 2 or more years and that reported absolute changes in LDL-C levels. Interventions were treatment with statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) vs placebo or usual care. Participants were men and women older than 18 years.

Data Extraction and Synthesis Three independent reviewers extracted data and/or assessed the methodological quality and certainty of the evidence using the risk of bias 2 tool and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation. Any differences in opinion were resolved by consensus. Meta-analyses and a meta-regression were undertaken.

Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcome: all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes: myocardial infarction, stroke.

Findings Twenty-one trials were included in the analysis. Meta-analyses showed reductions in the absolute risk of 0.8% (95% CI, 0.4%-1.2%) for all-cause mortality, 1.3% (95% CI, 0.9%-1.7%) for myocardial infarction, and 0.4% (95% CI, 0.2%-0.6%) for stroke in those randomized to treatment with statins, with associated relative risk reductions of 9% (95% CI, 5%-14%), 29% (95% CI, 22%-34%), and 14% (95% CI, 5%-22%) respectively. A meta-regression exploring the potential mediating association of the magnitude of statin-induced LDL-C reduction with outcomes was inconclusive.

Conclusions and Relevance The results of this meta-analysis suggest that the absolute risk reductions of treatment with statins in terms of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke are modest compared with the relative risk reductions, and the presence of significant heterogeneity reduces the certainty of the evidence. A conclusive association between absolute reductions in LDL-C levels and individual clinical outcomes was not established, and these findings underscore the importance of discussing absolute risk reductions when making informed clinical decisions with individual patients.

Author/s:

Byrne, P., Demasi, M., Jones, M.