Statins are widely used to lower high cholesterol, and rosuvastatin is a popular choice among these drugs.
However, a recent study from Johns Hopkins University has found that rosuvastatin, especially in higher doses, might harm the kidneys.
When rosuvastatin was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there were already some reports suggesting it could cause kidney problems.
These included hematuria (blood in the urine) and proteinuria (protein in the urine). Despite these initial concerns, there hasn’t been much follow-up to see how these risks play out in the real world.
To address this, the Johns Hopkins team looked at electronic health records from 2011 to 2019. They studied 152,101 people who started taking rosuvastatin and compared them with 795,799 people who started taking another statin called atorvastatin.
Over three years of follow-up, they found that 2.9% of rosuvastatin users had hematuria and 1.0% had proteinuria.
When they compared rosuvastatin users to atorvastatin users, they found that rosuvastatin users had an 8% higher risk of hematuria, a 17% higher risk of proteinuria, and a 15% higher risk of severe kidney problems requiring treatments like dialysis or a kidney transplant.
The risks of hematuria and proteinuria were even higher for those taking larger doses of rosuvastatin. In particular, 44% of people with advanced kidney disease were given a higher dose of rosuvastatin than what the FDA recommends for those with poor kidney function.
The researchers concluded that there is a clear link between rosuvastatin and kidney problems. They found that rosuvastatin and atorvastatin offered similar heart benefits, but the potential kidney risks with rosuvastatin, especially at higher doses, could outweigh these benefits.
This is particularly true for people with advanced kidney disease, where the risk might not be worth it.
This study, conducted by Jung-im Shin and colleagues, was published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. It highlights the importance of carefully considering the dosage of rosuvastatin, especially for those with existing kidney problems.
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