Statins and Portal Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Zahra Tayarani-Najaran, Seyed Ahmad Emami, Zeljko Reiner, Prashant Kesharwani, Tannaz Jamialahmadi, Khalid Al-Rasadi, Amirhossein Sahebkar, Maryam Matbou Riahi, Sepideh Salehabadi

Journal: Current medicinal chemistry 2025;32(7):1323-1332

PMID: 37723637

Full Text on Bentham Science Publishers Ltd. View on PubMed

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Statins are primarily used to decrease elevated LDL-cholesterol and thus prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Portal hypertension is one of the most important complications of chronic liver disease. Several studies indicated that statins might be beneficial for portal hypertension as well but there is still no clear answer whether this is true or not.

METHODS

A literature search of the major databases was performed to find eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) analyzing the effect of statins on portal hypertension from inception to February 5th, 2021. Six RCTs with 442 patients who received statin or statin plus carvedilol were finally included. Meta-analysis was performed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V2 software.

RESULTS

Reduction of portal hypertension after statin treatment was not significant (WMD: -0.494, 95% CI: -1.239, 0.252, p=0.194; I2:0%). The reduction of portal hypertension was robust in the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis.

CONCLUSION

Treatment with statins did not decrease significantly portal hypertension.

Address: International UNESCO center for Health-Related Basic Sciences and Human Nutrition, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.; Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.; Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.; Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.; Department of Traditional Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.; Targeted Drug Delivery Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.; Medical Toxicology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.; Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi 110062, India.; Department of Pharmacology, Center for Transdisciplinary Research, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Science, Chennai 600077, India.; Medical Research Centre, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat P.O. Box 373, Oman.; Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.; Department of Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

DOI: 10.2174/0929867331666230918114451

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MeSH Terms: Hypertension, Portal, Humans, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Carvedilol