Statin therapy has been linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), yet the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. To clarify whether Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C) levels themselves contribute to this risk, the association between baseline LDL-C concentrations, incident T2D, and the modifying effect of statin use was examined in a large population-based cohort of 202,545 individuals. Over a median follow-up period of 71.6 months, 1,819 individuals (13%) developed incident T2D.
The analysis showed a clear inverse association between LDL-C levels and T2D risk, with the lowest LDL-C group (<84 mg/dL) exhibiting the highest incidence. When LDL-C was stratified into quartiles, statin therapy significantly increased T2D risk only in the very high LDL-C group, while in the other quartiles, statin use did not meaningfully alter the LDL-C–T2D relationship. These findings…
