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Review
. 2014 Jul;5(3):181-5.
doi: 10.4103/0976-500X.136097.

Statin induced diabetes and its clinical implications

Umme Aiman  1 , Ahmad Najmi  2 , Rahat Ali Khan  1
Affiliations
Review

Statin induced diabetes and its clinical implications

Umme Aiman et al. J Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Statins are one of the most commonly used drugs in the world based on their potential to prevent adverse cardiovascular events. These cholesterol-lowering drugs received a US Food and Drug Administration warning, in February 2012, regarding increased risk of incident diabetes and impaired glycemic control in patients who already have diabetes. The possible association of diabetes with statin therapy has started a wave of discussion in the medical community. A number of meta-analyses conducted in recent years have demonstrated that the association is real although causality has not been proved yet. Individual statins differ with respect to their diabetogenic property; women and elderly persons appear to be at increased risk. Various aspects of statin's adverse effect on glycemic control remain to be explored. As further research in this area continues, physicians might still take some precautions to make risk benefit ratio more favorable for the patients.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; insulin resistance; statins; type 2 diabetes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association between statin therapy and incident diabetes in 13 major cardiovascular trials (events per 1000 patient-years, weights are from random-effects analysis). “Reprinted from The Lancet, Vol. 375, Sattar et al. Statins and risk of incident diabetes: A collaborative meta-analysis of randomised statin trials. 735-42. Copyright (2010), with permission from Elsevier”
Figure 2
Figure 2
Possible mechanisms of statin induced diabetes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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