Association of statin use and the risk of end-stage renal disease: A nationwide Asian population-based case-control study

Background: Although experimental models have shown that statins could alleviate glomerular damage and decrease urinary protein excretion, the renal effects of statins remain unclear. A case-control study was conducted using data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance system. Methods: An end-stage renal disease (ESRD) group comprising 11,486 patients was established. Each patient was frequency-matched by age, sex, and comorbidities with one person without ESRD from the general population. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the influence of statin use on ESRD risk. Results: The overall adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of ESRD among patients who received statins was 1.59 (95% confidence interval = 1.50-1.68). The raised ESRD risk of statin remained consolidated regardless of statin type (P < .001), except lovastatin. Further, while stratified by cumulative define daily dose, the risk of ESRD increased with accumulative dosage of statins (P for trend < .001). Conclusion: This population-based case-control study showed that statin use might be associated with increased ESRD risks. Large-scale randomized clinical trial encompassing statins of different kinds and populations of different comorbidities would be helpful to clarify the potential ESRD risks of statin users (C) 2016 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.