Statin Therapy Reduces Wound Healing Time by 30%
Statins could reduce overall recovery time for cardiac surgery patients, aid in wound healing, and reduce potential scarring, according to a new review article in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
“Statins appear to reduce the expression of various pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduce the migration of neutrophils to areas of inflammation, thereby modulating the inflammatory response,” says lead study author Gerard J. Fitzmaurice, MRCSI, MSc, from the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.
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He and his colleagues reviewed the existing literature, which included two human studies and a number of laboratory-based studies conducted on animals. They found the use of statin therapy was associated with a 30% earlier rate of wound epithelialization and a reduction in wound healing time from 18.7 days to 13 days.
According to the researchers, any surgical wound could benefit from statins. Their findings also suggest that statin therapy could even help cardiac surgery patients with comorbidities that would typically delay wound healing. “Diabetic patients, renowned as one of the patient groups at most risk of poor wound healing, appear to have the most to gain from statin augmentation of wound healing,” Fitzmaurice says.
In addition to improved healing rates, statins also showed benefits in reducing potential scarring. “Simvastatin was shown to inhibit keratinocyte propagation, which may contribute to the effect of statins on reducing hypertrophic scar formation,” Fitzmaurice says.
Optimal dosage still needs to be determined, but Fitzmaurice and his colleagues are also interested in examining topical statin treatment. “A key finding from our research with regard to topical administration was that treatment duration rather than dose concentration appears to be the predominant factor in wound healing,” he says.
The next step, of course, is to conduct a human trial to assess the effects of statins on wound healing.
“There are a number of potential benefits that could be realized from an appropriately conducted human trial including optimal delivery methods, dosage, and duration of treatment as well as the most obvious finding—demonstrating the benefit of statins in human patients,” Fitzmaurice says.
—Colleen Mullarkey
Reference
Fitzmaurice GJ, McWilliams B, Nölke L, Redmond JM, McGuinness JG, O’Donnell ME. Do statins have a role in the promotion of postoperative wound healing in cardiac surgical patients? Ann Thorac Surg. 28 Jun 2014. [Epub ahead of print].