Front Immunol

Statin therapy during ICU stay linked to improved outcomes in sepsis

June 18, 2025

Study details: This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from the MIMIC-IV database, including 20,230 adult ICU patients with sepsis. Researchers compared outcomes between patients who received statins during their ICU stay (n = 8,972) and those who didn’t (n = 11,258). Propensity score matching was used to balance baseline characteristics, resulting in two matched cohorts of 6,070 patients each.

Results: Statin use was associated with significantly lower 28-day all-cause mortality (14.3% vs. 23.4%; hazard ratio [HR], 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52–0.61; p < 0.001). ICU mortality (OR, 0.43) and in-hospital mortality (OR, 0.50) were also reduced in the statin group. The findings remained consistent across subgroups and sensitivity analyses.

Clinical impact: The study suggests that statins may confer a protective effect in critically ill septic patients, potentially due to their pleiotropic effects. While causality cannot be confirmed, these findings support further investigation into statin therapy as an adjunctive treatment in sepsis management.

Source:

Li C, et al. (2025, June 5). Front Immunol. Statin use during intensive care unit stay is associated with improved clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with sepsis: a cohort study. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1537172/full