Statins and peripheral neuropathy in diabetic and non-diabetic cases: a systematic review

Peripheral neuropathy (PN), as an adverse reaction attributed to statin drugs, as well as the beneficial neuroprotective properties of statins, have been widely reported and discussed in the literature. The aim of this study was to systematically review original publications that investigated the association of statin use and PN in diabetic and non-diabetic models, whether determined as a result of laboratory experimentation, or in a clinical setting.

A comprehensive search of the databases Google Scholar, PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus was conducted. Sixty-six articles, which evaluated the link between statins and PN in either a clinical or in-vivo/in-vitro condition were included. Statin treatment in neuropathy-induced animal models demonstrates favourable neurological effects in both the morphological and functional aspects of neurons. However, an extended duration of statin treatment is minimally associated with the development of non-diabetic idiopathic neuropathy. Importantly, statins have the potential to regress diabetic PN through anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and immunomodulatory properties.

When interpreting the results from studies that deal with the relationship between statins and PN, it is important to determine the mechanism(s) underlying the development of any potential neuropathies (in the presence or absence of diabetes), the type of model used (human or animal) and the duration of statin treatment.