title: Impact of statins on cognitive deficits in adult male rodents after traumatic brain injury: a systematic review.
abstract: The efficacy of statin treatment on cognitive decline is controversial, and the effect of statins on cognitive deficits in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) has yet to be investigated. Therefore, we systematically reviewed the effect of statins on cognitive deficits in adult male rodents after TBI. After identifying eligible studies by searching four electronic databases on February 28, 2014, we assessed study quality, evaluated the efficacy of statin treatment, and performed stratified metaregression and metaregression to assess the influence of study design on statin efficacy. Eleven studies fulfilled our inclusion criteria from a total of 183 publications. The overall methodological quality of these studies was poor. Meta-analysis showed that statins exert statistically significant positive effects on cognitive performance after TBI. Stratified analysis showed that atorvastatin has the greatest effect on acquisition memory, simvastatin has the greatest effect on retention memory, and statin effects on acquisition memory are higher in closed head injury models. Metaregression analysis further showed that that animal species, study quality, and anesthetic agent impact statin effects on retention memory. We conclude that statins might reduce cognitive deficits after TBI. However, additional well-designed and well-reported animal studies are needed to inform further clinical study.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China ; Key Laboratory of Chinese Gan of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410008, China.
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4506-0942
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8521-7492
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China ; Key Laboratory of Chinese Gan of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410008, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5163-3786
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Hunan Cancer Hospital, Changsha 410013, China ; The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
authors.forename: Lexing
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6468-1357
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China ; Key Laboratory of Chinese Gan of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410008, China.
authors.forename: Xin-gui
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8754-7700
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China ; Key Laboratory of Chinese Gan of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410008, China.
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4173-9285
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017594:Publication Bias; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012377:Rodentia; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents