The beneficial effect of statins to prevent cardiovascular events in patients at risk is well
established. Recent trials demonstrated that statins can exert a number of vascular actions
independent of lipid lowering. Short-term simvastatin therapy recently has been reported to
reduce mortality in 2 different animal models of sepsis. Pleiner and coworkers could
demonstrate potent vasoprotective properties of simvastatin during Escherichia coli endotoxin
induced endotoxemia in healthy volunteers. In a population-based cohort analysis it was
demonstrated that administration of statins was associated with a reduced risk of subsequent
sepsis. Thus, simvastatin treatment may offer a new therapeutic strategy for clinical
conditions associated with inflammation like severe sepsis and septic shock. The aim of the
present study is to test the hypothesis that short term treatment with simvastatin may
mitigate the detrimental vascular effects of acute inflammation in patients admitted to the
intensive care unit requiring treatment for septic shock.