Pleiotropic effects of atorvastatin in peritoneal dialysis patients: A retrospective-prospective observational cohort study

Recent studies demonstrate a large number of non-lipid modifiable effects of statins in various diseases. However, although atherogenic dyslipidemia is a common feature in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, statins use is supported by limited data and there is a general lack of research on their pleiotropic effects in this patients' cohort. The present study aimed to evaluate the possible pleiotropic effects of atorvastatin in PD patients. Methods. A total of 114 PD patients with an average age of 55 (48-65) years and a dialysis vintage of 31 (14-50) months were included in this combined retrospective and prospective multicentre cohort study. PD patients (n = 54) who had started receiving atorvastatin before or after dialysis initiation and been treated with atorvastatin no less than 12 months were included in the Atorvastatin Group. PD patients (n = 60) who have never taken statins consisted of Atorvastatin-free Group. In addition to routine clinical and PD adequacy tests, concentrations of interleukins -6, -10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in PD effluent (PDE) were evaluated in all study participants at the start of the follow-up period. The primary outcomes were the 3-year PD technique survival and the all-cause mortality of PD patients during the follow-up period. Results. Atorvastatin users had lower serum phosphate and parathyroid hormone concentrations, higher weekly creatinine clearance, peritoneal weekly Kt/V urea, and, accordingly, total weekly Kt/V compared to the Atorvastatin-free Group. PDE cytokines assessment demonstrated significantly lower concentrations of all studied cytokines in the Atorvastatin Group compared with the Atorvastatin-free Group. In the Cox regression models, atorvastatin use was significantly associated with better PD technique survival (HR = 0.28 (95% CI 0.15; 0.54), p = 0.003) and mortality reduction in the PD patients regardless of their age, diabetes, anuric status, albumin and C-reactive protein levels, and history of PD peritonitis (HR = 0.24 (95% CI 0.15; 0.44), p < 0.0001). Conclusions. Atorvastatin treatment was associated with the normalization of phosphate-calcium metabolism, low intraperitoneal inflammation and incidence of PD-associated peritonitis, and better dialysis adequacy in our cohort of PD patients. These pleiotropic effects of atorvastatin may be one of the reasons for the lower all‐cause mortality in PD patients. Further studies are needed to determine the necessity of statins prescribing in PD patients.