Gravina AG, Pellegrino R, Izzo M, De Costanzo I, Imperio G, Tambaro A, Lamart A, Landa F, Federico A. Relationship between statin use and inflammatory bowel disease: Exploring possible implications. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(18): 118390 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i18.118390]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Raffaele Pellegrino, MD, Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via L. de Crecchio, Naples 80138, Italy. raffaele.pellegrino@unicampania.it
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
May 14, 2026 (publication date) through May 6, 2026
Times Cited of This Article
Times Cited (0)
Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Gastroenterology
ISSN
1007-9327
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Share the Article
Gravina AG, Pellegrino R, Izzo M, De Costanzo I, Imperio G, Tambaro A, Lamart A, Landa F, Federico A. Relationship between statin use and inflammatory bowel disease: Exploring possible implications. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(18): 118390 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i18.118390]
World J Gastroenterol. May 14, 2026; 32(18): 118390 Published online May 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i18.118390
Relationship between statin use and inflammatory bowel disease: Exploring possible implications
Antonietta G Gravina, Raffaele Pellegrino, Michele Izzo, Ilaria De Costanzo, Giuseppe Imperio, Assunta Tambaro, Alessia Lamart, Fabio Landa, Alessandro Federico
Antonietta G Gravina, Raffaele Pellegrino, Michele Izzo, Ilaria De Costanzo, Giuseppe Imperio, Assunta Tambaro, Alessia Lamart, Fabio Landa, Alessandro Federico, Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples 80138, Italy
Co-first authors: Antonietta G Gravina and Raffaele Pellegrino.
Author contributions: Gravina AG and Pellegrino R conceptualized and designed the framework and methodology of the review; they contributed equally to this manuscript and share first authorship; Gravina AG, Pellegrino R, Izzo M, De Costanzo I, Imperio G, Tambaro A, Lamart A, Landa F, and Federico A reviewed the literature and wrote the initial manuscript, conceptualized the structure of the text and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Gravina AG has conducted training activities (e.g., educational continuing medical education preceptorship) for Pfizer, Galapagos Biopharma, and AbbVie. Pellegrino R has received sponsorship for participation in national and/or international conferences from Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly, Alfasigma, AbbVie, and Takeda. The other authors have no direct or indirect conflicts of interest concerning this work to disclose.
Corresponding author: Raffaele Pellegrino, MD, Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via L. de Crecchio, Naples 80138, Italy. raffaele.pellegrino@unicampania.it
Received: December 31, 2025 Revised: February 12, 2026 Accepted: February 25, 2026 Published online: May 14, 2026 Processing time: 126 Days and 18.9 Hours
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have a chronic, relapsing, remitting course and impose a substantial clinical impact and economic burden. Despite the expansion of therapeutic options, a significant proportion of patients continue to fail to achieve relevant outcomes, representing a difficult-to-overcome therapeutic ceiling and highlighting the need to explore complementary pharmacological strategies. In this context, statins, widely used in cardiovascular prevention, have attracted increasing attention for their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, independent of their lipid-lowering action. This review summarizes the available data on the relationship between statin use and IBD, including preclinical data, observational studies and clinical trials. Experimental studies demonstrate that statins modulate key pathways of intestinal inflammation, reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine production, improving epithelial barrier function and influencing both innate and adaptive immune responses. Large-scale epidemiological studies further suggest an association between statin use and a reduced risk of IBD onset, as well as a less aggressive clinical course in patients with established disease, with a lower need for corticosteroids, hospitalizations and surgery. Preliminary evidence also indicates a potential role in reducing the risk of colorectal carcinoma associated with chronic inflammation. Although the current data do not yet justify the adoption of statins as a specific treatment for IBD, these findings demonstrate a clear potential for these pharmacological agents to enter the therapeutic armamentarium of IBD.
Core Tip: Beyond their lipid-lowering action, statins exert anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects that may influence the onset and course of inflammatory bowel diseases, reducing inflammatory activity and the risk of complications, and positioning themselves as potential complementary therapies.
