Metformin may reduce Statins induced muscle pain

Statins are widely prescribed, yet statin muscle pain limits their use, leading to increased cardiovascular risk. Currently, there are no approved treatments for statin-associated muscle pain.Dr.Nicholas W. Carris PharmD at Department of Pharmacotherapeutics and Clinical Research, University of South Florida and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of data from the ACCORD trial to assess whether metformin was associated with reduced muscle pain in statin users.An ACCORD sub‐study had assessed patients for muscle cramps and leg/calve pain while walking, typical non‐severe statin muscle pain symptoms. The researchers found that Metformin appears to reduce the risk of non‐severe statin muscle pain.

The researchers carried out a secondary data analysis of the ACCORD trial in which they sought to determine the impact of metformin on statin-associated muscle symptoms by analyzing data from the ACCORD trial. They evaluated patients for muscle cramps and leg/calve pain while walking, a common non-severe statin-associated muscle pain symptom, and compared muscle pain among patients taking a statin (n=445) or a statin + metformin (n=869) at baseline.

They found that as compared to statin-only users, the unadjusted data indicated fewer reports of muscle cramps (35% vs 42%) and walking leg/calve pain (40% vs 47%) among statin + metformin users. The researchers calculated a 23% reduced risk of muscle cramps (P=0.046) and a 29% reduced risk of leg/calve pain while walking (P=0.01) based on multivariable regression analysis.

"Metformin appears to reduce the risk of non-severe statin muscle pain," the researchers concluded. "Additional research is needed to confirm the finding and assess metformin's impact on statin adherence and related cardiovascular outcomes" the researchers concluded.