Reviewing statin therapy in diabetes—Towards the best practise

Abstract 

Statin therapy is considered critical both in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in diabetes. Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ Collaborators meta-analysis of 14 randomised trials of statins in 18686 people with diabetes provides the latest and largest evidence showing a significant 21% reduction in major vascular events per mmol/l reduction in LDL cholesterol. Importantly, the risk reduction was similar in both types of diabetes. Growing evidence supports the view that statin therapy reduces microvascular complications as well. This review updates the current knowledge of statin therapy in preventing micro- and macrovascular complications in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Abbreviations: CVD, cardiovascular disease, HDL, high-density cholesterol, HMG CoA, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A-reductase, LDL, low-density cholesterol, ROS, reactive oxygen species, VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor

Keywords: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, Statin therapy, Diabetic dyslipidemia, Cardiovascular disease, Microvascular disease