Hello- my son has psc & uc. this article just came out related to statins. I’m going to look further into it. here is start of article and link to full report. you can sign up at this site for automatic updates on any articles released on psc. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/easl/72297
Statins May Help in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
Patients on anti-cholesterol drug seen at reduced risk of mortality
Ed Susman,April 12, 2018
Action Points
PARIS – People diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis who are on statin therapy for other reasons appear to have a markedly reduced risk of mortality from the disease compared with those not on the cholesterol-lowering medication, researchers reported here.
In a retrospective study, Annika Bergquist, MD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, reported the following with statin use versus none in primary sclerosing cholangitis:
32% reduction in the risk of mortality (HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.54-0.88)
50% reduction in the risk of mortality and the need for liver transplantation (HR 0.50, 95% 0.26-0.66)
47% risk of experiencing adverse liver events (HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.36-0.80)
“Our findings can only be considered as hypothesis generating, but statins appear to be a promising candidate for clinical studies,” Bergquist said in her press conference presentation at the International Liver Conference, sponsored by the European Association for the Study of the Liver.
She told MedPage Today that the 404 patients in the study on statins were likely prescribed them for cardiovascular risk reduction but were not prescribed the drugs for treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis.
In discussing the study, press conference moderator Annalisa Berzigotti, MD, of the University of Bern, Switzerland, told MedPage Today there was some science that supported the theory that statins would have a beneficial effect on primary sclerosing cholangitis.
“We have strong data suggesting that some cirrhotic patients can be protected by statins because they reduce portal pressure and confer a survival benefit,” she said. “The studies that show this data were not etiology specific but I think it can be extrapolated that it is likely to help in primary sclerosing cholangitis. Statins are anti-fibrotic in that they correct one of the major physiological problems in liver disease which is endothelial dysfunction and produce a pleiotropic effect: They reduce fibrosis; they reduce angiogenesis.”