Association Between Vitamin D and Statin-Related Myopathy: A Meta-analysis

Myopathy is the most widely reported statin-associated adverse event. Several studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with statin-related myopathy.

This meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether adult patients with statin-related myopathy have a lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) level than patients without myopathy and whether statin-related myopathy in vitamin D-deficient patients can be improved by vitamin D supplementation.

PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched until 28 September 2020. Original studies comparing the 25OHD levels of patients with and without myopathy or detecting the impact of vitamin D supplementation on statin-related muscular intolerance were included. Subgroup analyses based on the sample size and baseline 25OHD level were conducted.

This meta-analysis, based on nine cohort studies with a total of 2906 patients, revealed that the 25OHD level of patients with statin-related myopathy was significantly lower than that of patients without myopathy [weighted mean difference - 4.17 ng/mL; 95% confidence interval (CI) - 7.70 to - 0.63; p = 0.021]. The overall analysis from another four studies with 446 patients who were previously vitamin D deficient and reported statin-related muscular intolerance showed that the pooled tolerance rate of statins improved to 89% (95% CI 8692; p < 0.001) after vitamin D supplementation.

The present meta-analysis provides evidence that low 25OHD level is associated with statin-related myopathy and that exogenous vitamin D supplementation can improve statin-related muscular intolerance associated with low 25OHD level in most cases. Our findings may provide useful insight for the prevention and treatment of statin-related myopathy.