title: Statin therapy and plasma free fatty acids: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of statin therapy on plasma FFA concentrations in a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed-Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases were searched (from inception to February 16 2015) to identify controlled trials evaluating the impact of statins on plasma FFA concentrations. A systematic assessment of bias in the included studies was performed using the Cochrane criteria. A random effects model and generic inverse variance method were used for quantitative data synthesis. Sensitivity analysis was conducted using the leave-one-out method. Random effects meta-regression was performed using unrestricted maximum likelihood method to evaluate the impact of potential moderators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Meta-analysis of data from 14 treatment arms indicated a significant reduction in plasma FFA concentrations following treatment with statins (weighted mean difference (WMD) -19.42%, 95% CI -23.19, --15.64, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis confirmed the significance of the effect with both atorvastatin (WMD -20.56%, 95% CI -24.51, -16.61, P < 0.01) and simvastatin (WMD -18.05%, 95% CI -28.12, -7.99, P < 0.001). Changes in plasma FFA concentrations were independent of treatment duration (slope -0.10, 95% CI -0.30, 0.11, P = 0.354) and magnitude of reduction in plasma low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations (slope 0.55, 95% CI -0.17, 1.27, P = 0.133) by statins.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study suggest that statin therapy may lower plasma FFA concentrations. The cardiovascular and metabolic significance of this finding requires further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, 9177948564, Iran.|Metabolic Research Centre, Royal Perth Hospital, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Amirhossein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahebkar
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Unit, Mexican Social Security Institute, Durango.|Universidad Autónoma España de Durango, Durango, Dgo., México.
authors.forename: Luis E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Simental-Mendía
authors.affiliation: Area di Geriatria, Università Campus Biomedico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128, Roma.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pedone
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Specialistiche ed Odontostomatologiche (DISCO), Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferretti
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nachtigal
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bo
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Endocrine-Metabolic Pathophysiology and Clinical Research, University of Pavia, Pavia.|Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia and Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Derosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia and Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maffioli
authors.affiliation: Lipid Disorders Clinic, Cardiovascular Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Gerald F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Watts
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
keywords: cholesterol; dyslipidaemia; fatty acid; meta-analysis; statins