Is rosuvastatin protective against sepsis associated encephalopathy? A secondary analysis of the SAILS trial

Abstract Background Sepsis is a common cause of death in emergency departments and sepsis associated encephalopathy is a major complication of sepsis. Rosuvastatin may have a cerebral protective role based on its vascular endothelial protective and anti-inflammatory functions. Our study aims to explore the potential for a protective function of rosuvastatin against sepsis associated encephalopathy. Methods Sepsis patients without any neurological dysfunction on admission were prospectively enrolled in the ‘Rosuvastatin for Sepsis-Associated Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome’ study (SAILS trial, ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00979121). Patients were divided into rosuvastatin and placebo groups. This is a secondary analysis of this dataset. Baseline characteristics, therapy outcomes and adverse drug events were reported between groups. Outcomes: 86 patients were eligible for our study. 51 of them were treated with rosuvastatin. There were significantly fewer cases of sepsis associated encephalopathy in the rosuvastatin group than in the placebo group (32.1% vs 57.1%, p = 0.028). However, the highest CK level was significantly higher in the rosuvastatin group than in the placebo group (204.8 ± 425.31 vs 89.3 ± 78.29, p = 0.034). Conclusions Rosuvastatin is likely to have a protective role against sepsis associated encephalopathy, but may result in higher adverse events. Future large, multicenter randomized controlled trials are still needed to determine if rosuvastatin is appropriate for preventing sepsis associated encephalopathy.