AIM: The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of statin therapy on plasma FFA concentrations in a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. METHODS: PubMed-Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases were searched (from inception to February 16 2015) to identify controlled trials evaluating the impact of statins on plasma FFA concentrations. A systematic assessment of bias in the included studies was performed using the Cochrane criteria. A random effects model and generic inverse variance method were used for quantitative data synthesis. Sensitivity analysis was conducted using the leave-one-out method. Random effects meta-regression was performed using unrestricted maximum likelihood method to evaluate the impact of potential moderators. RESULTS: Meta-analysis of data from 14 treatment arms indicated a significant reduction in plasma FFA concentrations following treatment with statins (weighted mean difference (WMD) -19.42%, 95% CI -23.19, --15.64, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis confirmed the significance of the effect with both atorvastatin (WMD -20.56%, 95% CI -24.51, -16.61, P < 0.01) and simvastatin (WMD -18.05%, 95% CI -28.12, -7.99, P < 0.001). Changes in plasma FFA concentrations were independent of treatment duration (slope -0.10, 95% CI -0.30, 0.11, P = 0.354) and magnitude of reduction in plasma low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations (slope 0.55, 95% CI -0.17, 1.27, P = 0.133) by statins. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggest that statin therapy may lower plasma FFA concentrations. The cardiovascular and metabolic significance of this finding requires further investigation.

Area di Geriatria Università Campus Biomedico di Roma Via Alvaro del Portillo 21 00128 Roma

Biomedical Research Unit Mexican Social Security Institute Durango

Biotechnology Research Center Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Mashhad 9177948564 Iran

Center for the Study of Endocrine Metabolic Pathophysiology and Clinical Research University of Pavia Pavia

Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics University of Pavia and Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S Matteo Pavia Pavia Italy

Department of Medical Sciences University of Turin Turin

Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Specialistiche ed Odontostomatologiche Università Politecnica Delle Marche Italy

Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove Department of Biological and Medical Sciences Charles University Prague Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Lipid Disorders Clinic Cardiovascular Medicine Royal Perth Hospital School of Medicine and Pharmacology University of Western Australia Perth Western Australia Australia

Metabolic Research Centre Royal Perth Hospital School of Medicine and Pharmacology University of Western Australia Perth Australia

Universidad Autónoma España de Durango Durango Dgo México

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