State of the Art Comprehensive Review of Individual Statins, Their Differences, Pharmacology, and Clinical Implications
Authors: Pascal L Riel
Patrick Centuori
Ryan Penaflor
Mehrnoosh Hashemzadeh
Mehrdad Shadmehr
Veronica Azemawah
Mohammad Reza Movahed
Steven Situ
Journal: Cardiovascular drugs and therapy (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Cholesterol; Hypercholesterolemia; Hyperlipidemia; Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C)
Affiliations: University of Arizona, 1501 N Campbell Avenue, Tucson, AZ, 85724, USA., Pima College, Tucson, AZ, USA., CareMore, Tucson, AZ, USA., University of Arizona, 1501 N Campbell Avenue, Tucson, AZ, 85724, USA. ., Pima College, Tucson, AZ, USA. .

Abstract:  Statins are currently the primary treatment for hyperlipidemia, particularly for the treatment of high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), as many studies have proven benefit in a variety of populations. The benefits of statin treatment for high cholesterol have been proven in many trials. Forefront among different adverse events is statin-induced myopathy, which still eludes complete understanding, and may range anywhere from muscle soreness or fatigue to potentially extremely rare occurrence of rhabdomyolysis.As most adverse events are rare and not life-threatening, in high-risk patients, a high-dose statin should be started initially as data suggests that clinicians rarely up titrate statin therapy after initial prescription leading to under-treatment of many patients requiring high-dose statin therapy. As we will discuss in this paper, musculoskeletal side effects are the main concern and reason for discontinuing statin therapy. The occurrence and true association of other adverse events in patients on statin such as new onset of diabetes, hepatic toxicity, or cognitive impairment are rare, controversial, and not proven. In placebo-controlled studies, abnormal liver function occurs to a similar degree in statin- and placebo-treated patients. This led to FDA removal of the requirement to monitor liver function tests in patients on statin therapy.The combination of statins with other compounds such as ezetimibe or PCSK9 inhibitors has shown some additional benefits in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The goal of this manuscript is to conduct a comprehensive review about most commonly used statins and compare data on their history, structures, benefits, adverse effects, and clinical outcomes. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Several images in this review paper appear to have been taken from other papers. In two instances the reference to the original paper is included, but in at least one case, the original authors had not been asked if their drawing could be reused. Here is Figure 4 from this paper on the right, and the original image from Istvan ES et al., Science 2001, DOI: 10.1126 science.1059344 on the left. The legend mentions reference #7, however, which is a different paper.  , 
 Figure 6 of this paper (shown on the right) appears to look similar to Figure 2 from reference #34 (shown on the left), which is Ahmadi Y et al., Inflammopharmacology (2018), DOI: 10.1007 s10787-018-0469-x.  , 
 Figure 7 of this paper (shown on the right) appears to look similar to Figure 1 from reference #55 (shown on the left), which is Henriksbo BD and Schertzer JD, Adipocyte 4:4, 232--238 (2015), DOI: 10.1080 21623945.2015.1024394. The figure is a bit stretched compared to the original.  Could the authors clarify if they asked the authors permission? , 
 Rights to Istvan et al. are owned by the publisher, who offers a license to re-print figures in other articles at no or small charge. I don t know what kind of citation may or may not be required. But, the permissions clearing service is the same one used by the publisher of Azemawah et al so this may be taken care of already. Rights to Henriksbo and Schertzer are owned by the authors, but they have most likely licensed it to everybody under CC-BY. In that case the figure may be republished by others with adequate citation. In this case it seems the required credit was not given. Publisher of Azemawah et al (Springer) is probably interested, because authors have claimed to assign copyright of Henriksbo and Schertzer figure to Springer. ,