Statins are related to impaired exercise capacity in males but not females

Abstract

BackgroundExercise and statins reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD). Exercise capacity may be assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Whether statin medication is associated with CPET parameters is unclear. We investigated if statins are related with exercise capacity during CPET in the general population.MethodsCross-sectional data of two independent cohorts of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) were merged (n = 3,500; 50% males). Oxygen consumption (VO2) at peak exercise (VO2peak) and anaerobic threshold (VO2@AT) was assessed during symptom-limited CPET. Two linear regression models related VO2peak with statin usage were calculated. Model 1 adjusted for age, sex, previous myocardial infarction, and physical inactivity and model 2 additionally for body mass index, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Propensity score matching was used for validation.ResultsStatin usage was associated with lower VO2peak (no statin: 2336; 95%-confidence interval [CI]: 2287–2,385 vs. statin 2090; 95%-CI: 2,031–2149 ml/min; P < .0001) and VO2@AT (no statin: 1,172; 95%-CI: 1,142–1,202 vs. statin: 1,111; 95%-CI: 1,075–1,147 ml/min; P = .0061) in males but not females (VO2peak: no statin: 1,467; 95%-CI: 1,417–1,517 vs. statin: 1,503; 95%-CI: 1,426–1,579 ml/min; P = 1.00 and VO2@AT: no statin: 854; 95%-CI: 824–885 vs. statin 864; 95%-CI: 817–911 ml/min; P = 1.00). Model 2 revealed similar results. Propensity scores analysis confirmed the results.ConclusionIn the general population present statin medication was related with impaired exercise capacity in males but not females. Sex specific effects of statins on cardiopulmonary exercise capacity deserve further research.

Statin combined with exercise training is more effective to improve functional status in dyslipidemic older adults

“…Others, consistent with our results, reported that ST use blunted CRF and skeletal muscle mitochondrial content when combined with exercise training . Bahls and colleagues, on the other hand, reported that ST effects on CRF impairment were sex‐specific, impairing males but not females. Our results seem to confirm these rationales once ST therapy group, with higher prevalence of males, decreased 5% CRF, reversely to the ST+EX and EX groups that improved 20% CRF.…”

“…12 Others, consistent with our results, reported that ST use blunted CRF and skeletal muscle mitochondrial content when combined with exercise training. 14 Bahls and colleagues, 34 on the other hand, reported that ST effects on CRF impairment were sex-specific, impairing males but not females.…”

Effect of ubiquinol supplementation on biochemical and oxidative stress indexes after intense exercise in young athletes

“…In support of this hypothesis, on average a lower plasma CoQ 10 content in trained subjects compared to sedentary ones has been previously documented [34][35][36][37] and a positive correlation between muscular CoQ 10 content and exercise capacity has been observed [38,39]. Moreover, it is also known that statin treatment, a widely used hypocholesterolemic drug targeting cholesterol and also CoQ 10 synthesis, has been related to impaired exercise capacity [40,41] as well as to an increased incidence of intolerance in athletes and physically active patients [42,43] which further supports an increased CoQ 10 requirement in physical activity. Nonetheless some authors report a milder effect of statins with no significant repercussion on physical performance [44] or on incidence of exercise induced injuries [45].…”

Association of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Capacity and Adipokines in the General Population

“…CRF was also affected by these drugs. Statin medication was associated with impaired exercise capacity in 1,752 men [63], while different anti-diabetic agents seem to have varied effects on CRF [64]. Since the role of those drug treatments in the association of CRF and adipokines is unclear, we performed a sensitivity analysis without participants taking either statins, anti-diabetic medication or both.…”