Statin therapy and decreased incidence of positive Candida cultures among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing gastrointestinal surgery

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether statin therapy decreases the incidence of cultures positive for Candida species among high-risk hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study analyzing the records of all patients with type 2 DM who were admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital for lower gastrointestinal tract surgery between January 1, 2001, and May 1, 2008. We defined statin exposure as the filling of at least 1 prescription of statins during the 6 months before hospitalization or during the current hospital stay. The primary outcome was a culture positive for Candida species during hospitalization. Clinical information on a wide range of covariates was collected. Logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for possible confounders. RESULTS: Of the 1019 patients who were eligible for the study, 493 (48%) were receiving statins. A total of 139 patients (14%) had at least 1 culture positive for Candida species during hospitalization. An adjusted multivariate model based on a backward stepwise elimination procedure showed that statin therapy significantly decreased the incidence of cultures positive for Candida species (odds ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.38-0.96; P=.03) with a statistically significant prolonged time to event compared with no statin therapy (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44-0.88; P=.01). The benefit of statins was more prominent in patients with type 2 DM who had greater comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥2) (adjusted odds ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.27-0.79; P=.01). CONCLUSION: Among patients with type 2 DM who underwent gastrointestinal surgery, use of statins correlated with a decreased incidence of cultures positive for Candida species.