Background: Limited data suggest that HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) reduce rates of kidney function loss. We performed this analysis to determine whether pravastatin reduced the rate of kidney function loss over approximately 5 years in people with or at high risk for coronary disease.
Methods and results: This was a post hoc subgroup analysis of data from 3 randomized double-blind controlled trials comparing pravastatin 40 mg/d and placebo in subjects with a previous acute coronary syndrome or who were at high cardiovascular risk. The primary outcome was the rate of change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR; in mL/min per 1.73 m2/y). The Modified Diet and Renal Disease Study (MDRD) and Cockcroft-Gault equations were used to estimate GFR. We studied 18,569 participants, 3402 (18.3%) of whom had moderate chronic kidney disease as defined by an estimated GFR of 30 to 59.9 mL/min per 1.73 m2 body surface area. In subjects with moderate chronic kidney disease at baseline, pravastatin reduced the adjusted rate of kidney function loss by approximately 34%, although the absolute reduction in the rate of loss was small (0.22 mL/min per 1.73 m2/y by MDRD-GFR; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.37). Pravastatin did not reduce the frequency of > or =25% decreases in kidney function in this group when MDRD-GFR was used to estimate GFR (relative risk [RR], 0.84; 95% CI, 0.66 to 1.06). When all 18,569 subjects were considered, pravastatin reduced the adjusted rate of kidney function loss by 8% (0.08 mL/min per 1.73 m2/y by MDRD-GFR; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.15) and the risk of acute renal failure (RR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.41 to 0.86) but did not significantly reduce the frequency of a > or =25% decline in kidney function by MDRD-GFR (RR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.01).
Conclusions: Pravastatin modestly reduced the rate of kidney function loss in people with or at risk for cardiovascular disease. However, the primary indication for the use of statins in people with or at risk for coronary events remains the reduction in mortality that results from their use.