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Statins for community-acquired pneumonia: current state of the science

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Abstract

In spite of the many advances in the diagnosis and management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the mortality associated with this infection remains high. In recent years scientific evidence has emerged that shows that an excessive inflammatory response is a major cause of unfavorable outcome in patients with CAP, especially in the first few days. The use of immunomodulation appears to be an appealing option for improving prognosis in CAP. It has recently been demonstrated that statins have immunomodulatory, antioxidative and anticoagulant effects, and the beneficial effects of these drugs in sepsis have been discussed. Experimental studies have shown their effect in the modulation of the cytokine cascade and in the organization of the immunological response to respiratory infection. Most observational studies published to date support the idea that the use of statins may improve the prognosis of CAP. Randomized controlled trials are needed to validate these findings.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are supported by research grant REIPI RD06/0008 from the Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases; Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria de la Seguridad Social (grant 07/0864); Fundación Carolina – BBVA (Dr. Viasus), and Institut d´Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (Dr. Garcia-Vidal).

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All authors declare the existence of no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Disease Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d’investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), Feixa Llarga s/n, 08907, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

    D. Viasus, C. Garcia-Vidal, F. Gudiol & J. Carratalà

  2. Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    F. Gudiol & J. Carratalà

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  1. D. Viasus
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  2. C. Garcia-Vidal
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  3. F. Gudiol
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  4. J. Carratalà
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Correspondence to D. Viasus.

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Viasus, D., Garcia-Vidal, C., Gudiol, F. et al. Statins for community-acquired pneumonia: current state of the science. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 29, 143–152 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0835-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0835-0

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