SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuromuscular Disorders and Peripheral Neuropathies
The effect of statins on the survival of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with limited disease-modifying therapies and a poor overall prognosis. Statins, are commonly used for dyslipidemia, and have been proposed to exert cholesterol-independent actions including anti-inflammatory and potential neuroprotective effects. Prior studies, However, existing studies offer conflicting results regarding their impact on ALS survival. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between statin use and survival outcomes in patients with ALS. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception to September 2025. Studies were included if they reported survival outcomes for statin users versus non-users among patients with ALS. Data on hazard ratios (HRs) were extracted and pooled using fixed-or random-effects models, depending on heterogeneity. Meta-regression and sensitivity analyses were performed to explore the influence of covariates such as age and gender. Results: Six studies with 3,739 participants (889 statin users) met the inclusion criteria. The pooled analysis showed no statistical significant association between statin use and ALS survival (Log[HR] = -0.04; 95% CI: -0.18 to 0.10), with moderate heterogeneity (I² = 24.85%). Conclusion: The pooled estimate in this meta-analysis did not show a statistically significant association between statin use and ALS survival; however, the evidence is limited by heterogeneity in statin exposure definitions and likely residual confounding in predominantly observational data. Further high-quality studies with large sample sizes are needed to determine whether specific subgroups may benefit/harm from statin therapy.
Keywords: ALS, Amyotrophiclateral sclerosis, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Statins, Survival
Received: 25 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zhou, Meng, Liang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yuanyuan Wang
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