Statins are strongly associated with cerebrovascular diseases, especially cerebral infarction. Many large clinical trials have been conducted, showing the positive effect of statins on stroke. Representative studies include the Cholesterol Recurrent Events (CARE) Study
[21], the Long-Term Intervention with Pravastatin Ischemic Disease (LIPID) Study
[22], and the Heart Protection Study (HPS)
[23], all showing a reduction in the incidence of stroke or cerebral infarction. In addition, the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction of Cholesterol (SPARCL) study
[24] showed the efficacy of statins in patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack. These results have been attributed to the importance of the cholesterol-lowering effect, which is the primary effect of statins
[23][25]. However, recent studies have shown that cholesterol reduction in stroke is not the major factor, highlighting the importance of pleiotropic effects
[26][27][28]. Statins influence intracellular signaling, improve vascular endothelial function, inhibit thrombus formation, and exert anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic effects. Statin treatment is essential for patients with carotid artery stenosis, as the pleiotropic effect stabilizes the carotid atherosclerotic plaque
[29]. This finding has been confirmed by the results of the Japan Statin Treatment Against Recurrent Stroke (J-STARS) study, which showed that low-dose statin reduces the occurrence of stroke due to larger artery atherosclerosis
[30]. Although statins have been well studied for the primary and long-term secondary prevention of stroke, their use in the acute phase is controversial. Large retrospective studies have shown that early resumption of statins contributes to improved survival in patients using statins prior to stroke onset
[31].