A review on statins with a focus on type 2 diabetes

Statins are the most important lipid lowering drugs and their protective effects in primary or secondary cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have been well documented. However, various number of evidences have revealed that the beneficial effects of statins regarding the CVDs are not only due to their blood cholesterol lowering properties but also because of their pleiotropic effects such as inhibition of isoprenoids synthesis, immunomodulation and neuroprotection. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a systemic disease with inflammatory properties and micro/macro-vascular complications. Despite the beneficial effects of statins to lower blood cholesterol level, mortality decrease due to CVD and stroke, dyslipidemia improvement, and their anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulatory properties have not well been studied, especially in T2DM. In this review, we discuss the pharmacology, pleiotropic effects, dose prescribing and side effects of statins with a focus on type 2 diabetes.