Abstract: Objective To systematically review whether statins can reduce the risk of infection and infection-related mortality.
Methods We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Elsevier and CBM databases for randomized
placebo-controlled trials of statins published by September 2013, and each trial enrolled at least 100 participants with
follow-up for at least 4 weeks. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of the included studies and extracted the
relevant data for analysis using Stata 12.0 software. Results Sixteen trails involving a total of 48973 patients were included in
our meta-analysis. The results showed that statins significantly reduced the risk of infection (OR=0.93, 95% CI 0.89 to 0.98, P=
0.004) compared to placebo but did not significantly lower infection-related mortality (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.12, P=0.592).
Conclusion Statins can significantly reduce the risk of infection but does not lower infection-related mortality.