The role of lovastatin in the attenuation of COVID-19

• Published in: International immunopharmacology Vol. 101; no. Pt A; p. 108192
• Main Authors: Karampoor, Sajad, Hesamizadeh, Khashayar, Shams, Zinat, Ghafari Novin, Arefeh, Farahmand, Mohammad, Zahednasab, Hamid, Mirzaei, Rasoul, Zamani, Farhad, Hajibaba, Marzieh, Bouzari, Behnaz, Laali, Azadeh, Tabibzadeh, Alireza, Hadi Karbalaie Niya, Mohammad, Keyvani, Hossein
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.12.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Adult; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - therapeutic use; Antiviral agents; Attenuation; Case-Control Studies; Complications; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - blood; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; Critical Care - methods; Cytokine Release Syndrome - blood; Cytokine Release Syndrome - drug therapy; Cytokine storm; Cytokines; Cytokines - drug effects; Female; Hospitalization; Humans; ICU; Immunomodulation; Inflammation; Inflammatory response; Intensive Care Units; Interleukin 6; Interleukin 8; Interleukin-6 - metabolism; Interleukin-8 - metabolism; Lovastatin; Lovastatin - pharmacology; Lovastatin - therapeutic use; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Pathogenesis; Patients; Receptors, Immunologic - metabolism; Respiratory distress syndrome; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sex Factors; Statin; Statins; Statistical analysis; Viral diseases; COVID-19; Lovastatin; SARS-CoV-2; ICU; Inflammation; Statin
• ISSN: 1567-5769; 1878-1705; 1878-1705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2021.108192

•The lovastatin administration was decreased inflammatory markers in COVID-19 patients.•The reduction of IL-6 and IL-8 was dose-dependent manner.•The decrease in CRP levels was not dose-dependent.•The receiving of lovastatin in COVID-19 cases was associated with reducing the time of hospitalization.•The COVID-19 cases receiving lovastatin were decreased mortality rate than the control group. The mounting evidence regarding the pathogenesis of COVID-19 indicated that the cytokine storm has an axial role in the severity of this disease, which may lead to thrombotic complications, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and myocardial damage, among other consequences. It has recently been demonstrated that statins are known to have anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, and immunomodulatory features; however, their advantage has not been evaluated in COVID-19. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of lovastatin in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with COVID-19. The case-control study consists of 284 ICU patients, which classified into three groups as follows: 1) the patients who no received lovastatin as a control (92 patients), 2) patients received 20 mg per day lovastatin (99 patients), and 3) patients received 40 mg per day lovastatin (93 patients). Each group's demographic and clinical parameters, along with CRP, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 levels, and mortality rate, were studied in three-time points. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between our study groups in terms of age and sex. (P > 0.05). Besides, in patients, receiving lovastatin the CRP, IL-6, IL-8 levels were significantly decreased from T1 to T3 than to the control group. Our results also showed that the use of lovastatin in COVID-19 patients significantly reduced the length of hospitalization in the ICU compared with the control group. In addition, our results showed that the mortality rate in patients receiving lovastatin was lower when compared to the control group; however, this difference was not statistically significant. Since the cytokine storm is a significant factor in the pathology of SARS-CoV-2, our findings highlighted the potential use of lovastatin to mitigate the inflammatory response induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection.