Role of statins in Alzheimer's disease: a retrospective meta-analysis for commonly investigated clinical parameters in RCTs

This review was conducted to assess the role of statins in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We conducted meta-analysis using the randomised controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in patients who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, by conducting searches for RCTs in MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane (up to 2012). An overall of five studies were included and analysed. The evaluation was done for some commonly evaluated clinical parameters like Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-CoG). Statistical evaluation was done as per method described by Neyeloff et al. and forest plots were plotted for each evaluated parameter. MMSE score showed a significant difference in favour of statins. ADAS-CoG and CGIC did not show a significant advantage for statins in comparison to placebo. Highly heterogeneous distribution was seen for MMSE score. Further trials need to be conducted to arrive at more robust results.