SAN DIEGO—Statins may decrease hyporesponsiveness to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in hemodialysis (HD) patients, researchers reported at Kidney Week.

Takeshi Hasegawa, MD, PhD, of Fukushima Medical University in Fukushima, Japan, and colleagues studied 3,602 patients at 60 HD facilities. The patients dialyzed 3 times a week for 4 months or more. The main outcome was ESA hyporesponsiveness—mean hemoglobin level less than 10 g/dL and mean ESA dose greater than 6,000 units per week—4 months after initiation of statin therapy.

Of the 3,602 patients, 585 (16.2%) were prescribed a statin and 3,017 (83.8%) were not; 12.8% of the cohort exhibited ESA hyporesponsiveness. In a fully adjusted model, patients prescribed statins had an approximately 13% decreased odds of ESA hyporesponsiveness.

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The researchers noted that causal inference is limited by the study’s observational design and unmeasured compliance with statin therapy.

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Anemias Dialysis Kidney Week 2015