Table 3.

RCTs evaluating the lipid-modifying effects of statins.

Study	Population	Duration	Statin and dose	Lipids at baseline‡ (mmol/L)	Percentage or absolute change (mmol/L)	P value	Percentage reaching LDL-C treatment target of 2.6 mmol/L or below (placebo)	Harms
Statins versus placebo
	151 people with type 2 diabetes	Study duration 6 weeks	Simvastatin 40 mg od	LDL-C: 3.5 ± 1.0	–41	Less than 0.001	82%	Drug-related musculoskeletal events (no rise in creatine kinase): 6 people in simvastatin 40 mg od group v 2 people in simvastatin 80 mg od group v 1 person in placebo group
			HDL-C: 0.9 ± 0.1	+5	Less than 0.001	14%
				TG: 3.1 (median)	–29	Less than 0.001
			Simvastatin 80 mg od	LDL-C: 3.5 ± 1.0	–47	less than 0.001*†	87%	Elevated alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase more than 3 times upper limit (2 people simvastatin 80 mg group)
				HDL-C: 0.9 ± 0.1	+8	Less than 0.001*†	14%
				TG: 3.1 (median)	–31	Less than 0.001	–
						(= 0.42)†	–
	25 people with type 1 diabetes	Study duration 16 weeks	Simvastatin up to 20 mg od	LDL-C: 4.6 ± 0.7	2.8 ± 0.3 SD(LDL-C at 16 weeks)	Less than 0.001	–	No difference in liver enzymes or creatine kinase
				TC: 6.7 ± 1.0	4.9 ± 0.4 SD(TC at 16 weeks)	Less than 0.001	–
	57 people with type 2 diabetes	Study duration 24 weeks	Simvastatin 10 mg od	LDL-C: 5.5 (95% CI 5.4 to 5.6)	–38	Less than 0.001	–	Did not look for adverse effects
				HDL-C: 1.16 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.25)	+9	Less than 0.05	–
				TC: 7.8 (95% CI 7.6 to 8.0)	–28	Less than 0.001	–
				TG: 2.6 (95% CI 2.2 to 3.0)	–15	Less than 0.05	–
	217 people with type 2 diabetes	Study duration 30 weeks	Atorvastatin 10 mg	LDL-C: 3.7 ± 0.1	–40.8	Less than 0.001	71%	No difference in liver and renal enzymes, muscle pain, and myopathy (with creatine kinase rise). No adverse events were reported
			HDL-C: 1.05 ± 0.03	+6	Less than 0.005	36%
			TC: 5.9 ± 0.1	–29.8	Less than 0.001	–
				TG: 2.54 + 0.1	–25.4	Less than 0.001	80%
				(median)
			Atorvastatin 80 mg	LDL-C: 3.7 ± 0.1	–52.3	Less than 0.001*	85%
				HDL-C: 1.03 ± 0.03	+5.2	Less than 0.005	44%
				TC: 6.1 ± 0.2	–39.2	Less than 0.001 (Less than 0.005†)	–
				TG: 2.85 ± 0.13 (median)	–34.6	Less than 0.001	76%
	49 people; 22 with type 1 and 27 with type 2 diabetes, aged 18–70 years	Study duration 24 weeks	Pravastatin 20 mg od	LDL-C: 5.03 ± 0.74	–25.8%	Less than 0.001	–	1 person in placebo group withdrew with muscle pain No significant changes in biochemical parameters
			HDL-C: 1.30 ± 0.50	1.8	NS	–
			TC: 7.35 ± 0.63	–22.2%	Less than 0.001	–
				TG: 1.93 ± 0.73	13.6%	Less than 0.01	–

HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; NS, not significant; od, once daily; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglyceride. P values are change compared with placebo unless otherwise stated; *P value compared with placebo and different doses; †P value comparing different doses; ‡values are mean ± standard deviation unless otherwise stated.