Aim: In addition to the risk of progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD), chronic kidney disease (CKD) is also known to be associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Statins may improve renal function in CKD patients.
Methods: The database of the LIVALO Effectiveness and Safety (LIVES) Study, a large-scale (n=20,279), long-term (104 weeks), prospective post-marketing surveillance study of hypercholesterolemic patients treated with pitavastatin, was used to evaluate the effects of pitavastatin on the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).
Results: Of the 19,925 patients enrolled in the aforementioned study, data from 3,119 patients were analyzed to evaluate the effects of pitavastatin treatment for 104 weeks on the eGFR. In this subanalysis, 958 patients with a baseline eGFR of less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m² (30.7%) were analyzed. A significant increase of the eGFR (+5.4 mL/min/1.73 m²) was observed after 104 weeks of pitavastain treatment (p < 0.001; one-sample t-test). In the analysis of the time-course of changes in the eGFR in response to pitavastatin treatment, the eGFR was elevated by 2.4 mL/min/1.73 m² after 12 weeks' treatment, and by 5.6 mL/min/1.73 m² after 104 weeks' treatment (p < 0.001; repeated measures ANOVA). The results of multivariate analysis identified the presence/absence of proteinuria and the amount change of HDL-C as clinical factors associated with increased eGFR during pitavastatin treatment.
Conclusions: Increased eGFR was noted after 104 weeks of treatment with pitavastatin, which suggests a possible effect of the statin on CKD.