Effect of Prior Atorvastatin Treatment on the Frequency of Hospital Acquired Pneumonia and Evolution of Biomarkers in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Multicenter Prospective Study

Objective. To investigate whether prior treatment of atorvastatin reduces the frequency of hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP). Methods. Totally, 492 patients with acute ischemic stroke and Glasgow Coma Scale ≤ 8 were enrolled in this study. Subjects were assigned to prior atorvastatin treatment group (n = 268, PG) and no prior treatment group (n = 224, NG). All the patients were given 20 mg atorvastatin every night during their hospital stay. HAP frequency and 28-day mortality were measured. Levels of inflammatory biomarkers [white blood cell (WBC), procalcitonin (PCT), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6)] were tested. Results. There was no significant difference in the incidence of HAP between PG and NG (25.74% versus. 24.55%, p > 0.05) and 28-day mortality (50.72% versus 58.18%, p > 0.05). However, prior statin treatment did modify the mortality of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) (36.54% versus 58.14%, p = 0.041) and proved to be a protective factor (HR, 0.564; 95% CI, 0.310~0.825, p = 0.038). Concentrations of TNF-α and IL-6 in PG VAP cases were lower than those in NG VAP cases (p < 0.01). Conclusions. Prior atorvastatin treatment in patients with ischemic stroke was associated with a lower concentration of IL-6 and TNF-α and improved the outcome of VAP. This clinical study has been registered with ChiCTR-ROC-17010633 in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.