According to a recently published study in Cell Metabolism, statin use is correlated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality rates among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. In this study, 14,000 COVID-19 patients were treated in a hospital in China’s Hubei Province, and more than 1,000 patients were given statins. After making some analytical variations, the researchers concluded that the risk of 28-day all-cause mortality was 5.2% for the statin group and 9.4% for the nonstatin group. 

The results of this study indicated that the use of statins was also linked to fewer instances of acute respiratory distress syndrome and fewer patients being admitted to the ICU. In a press release, senior author Hongliang Li indicated, “The results from the study support the safety and potential benefits of statin therapy in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and provide a rationale for prospective studies to determine whether statins confer protection against COVID-19-associated mortality.” 

Researchers concluded that use of statins in hospitalized subjects with COVID-19 was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and a favorable recovery profile. Due to the nature of such retrospective studies, these results should be interpreted with caution; however, these data provide supportive evidence for the safety of a statin or combination of a statin and an ACE inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blocker for treatment of patients with COVID-19. Further randomized controlled trials to prospectively explore the efficacy of statins in COVID-19 outcomes are urgently needed.
 
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