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Table. 
A Summary of the JUPITER Trial Resultsa
A Summary of the JUPITER Trial Resultsa
1.
Kjekshus  JApetrei  EBarrios  V  et al. CORONA Group, Rosuvastatin in older patients with systolic heart failure.  N Engl J Med 2007;357 (22) 2248- 2261PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
2.
Barter  PJCaulfield  MEriksson  M  et al. ILLUMINATE Investigators, Effects of torcetrapib in patients at high risk for coronary events.  N Engl J Med 2007;357 (21) 2109- 2122PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
3.
Tavazzi  LMaggioni  APMarchioli  R  et al. GISSI-HF Investigators, Effect of rosuvastatin in patients with chronic heart failure (the GISSI-HF trial): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.  Lancet 2008;372 (9645) 1231- 1239PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
4.
Rossebø  ABPedersen  TRBoman  K  et al. SEAS Investigators, Intensive lipid lowering with simvastatin and ezetimibe in aortic stenosis.  N Engl J Med 2008;359 (13) 1343- 1356PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
5.
Fellström  BCJardine  AGSchmieder  ME  et al. AURORA Study Group, Rosuvastatin and cardiovascular events in patients undergoing hemodialysis.  N Engl J Med 2009;360 (14) 1395- 1407PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
6.
Wanner  CKrane  VMärz  W  et al. German Diabetes and Dialysis Study Investigators, Atorvastatin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing hemodialysis.  N Engl J Med 2005;353 (3) 238- 248PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
7.
Knopp  RHd’Emden  MSmilde  JGPocock  SJ Efficacy and safety of atorvastatin in the prevention of cardiovascular end points in subjects with type 2 diabetes: the Atorvastatin Study for Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease Endpoints in Non–Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (ASPEN).  Diabetes Care 2006;29 (7) 1478- 1485PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
8.
Cowell  SJNewby  DEPrescott  RJ  et al. Scottish Aortic Stenosis and Lipid Lowering Trial, Impact on Regression (SALTIRE) Investigators, A randomized trial of intensive lipid-lowering therapy in calcific aortic stenosis.  N Engl J Med 2005;352 (23) 2389- 2397PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
9.
Kastelein  JJAkdim  FStroes  ES  et al. ENHANCE Investigators, Simvastatin with or without ezetimibe in familial hypercholesterolemia.  N Engl J Med 2008;358 (14) 1431- 1443PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
10.
Ridker  PMDanielson  EFonseca  FA  et al. JUPITER Study Group, Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein.  N Engl J Med 2008;359 (21) 2195- 2207PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
11.
Donner-Banzhoff  NSönnichsen  A Statins and primary prevention of cardiovascular events.  BMJ 2008;337a2576PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
12.
Nissen  SE The Jupiter trial: key findings, controversies and implications.  Curr Cardiol Rep 2009;11 (2) 81- 82PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
13.
Vaccarino  VBremner  JDKelley  ME JUPITER: a few words of caution.  Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2009;2 (3) 286- 288PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
14.
Hlatky  MA Expanding the orbit of primary prevention: moving beyond JUPITER.  N Engl J Med 2008;359 (21) 2280- 2282PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
15.
Spatz  ESCanavan  MEDesai  MM From here to JUPITER: identifying new patients for statin therapy using data from the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.  Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2009;2 (1) 41- 48PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
16.
Wood  S Eyes trained on JUPITER: cardiologists seek details to understand how statin use may expand.  Medscape Web site http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/583040. Accessed November 6, 2008Google Scholar
17.
 Normal cholesterol? you may still be at risk.  CardioSmart Web site http://www.cardiosmart.org/News/Default.aspx?id=2238. Accessed November 9, 2008Google Scholar
18.
Bogaty  PBrophy  JMBoyer  L  et al.  Fluctuating inflammatory markers in patients with stable ischemic heart disease.  Arch Intern Med 2005;165 (2) 221- 226PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
19.
O’Riordan  M Crestor outcomes study JUPITER closes early due to unequivocal evidence of benefit.  theheart.org Web site http://www.theheart.org/article/852735.do. Accessed March 31, 2008Google Scholar
20.
O’Riordan  M JUPITER halted: rosuvastatin significantly reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.  Medscape Web site http://medscapemobile.com/viewarticle/572270. Accessed April 1, 2008Google Scholar
21.
Ballantyne  CMRaichlen  JSNicholls  SJ  et al. ASTEROID Investigators, Effect of rosuvastatin therapy on coronary artery stenoses assessed by quantitative coronary angiography: a study to evaluate the effect of rosuvastatin on intravascular ultrasound-derived coronary atheroma burden.  Circulation 2008;117 (19) 2458- 2466PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
22.
Ridker  PMJUPITER Study Group, Rosuvastatin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: rationale and design of the JUPITER trial.  Circulation 2003;108 (19) 2292- 2297PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
23.
Bassler  DBriel  MMontori  VM  et al. STOPIT-2 Study Group, Stopping randomized trials early for benefit and estimation of treatment effects: systematic review and meta-regression analysis.  JAMA 2010;303 (12) 1180- 1187PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
24.
Ridker  PMGlynn  RJ Rosuvastatin in patients with elevated C-reactive protein [reply].  N Engl J Med 2009;360 (10) 1041- 1042Google Scholar
25.
Mueller  PSMontori  VMBassler  DKoenig  BAGuyatt  GH Ethical issues in stopping randomized trials early because of apparent benefit.  Ann Intern Med 2007;146 (12) 878- 881PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
26.
Montori  VMDevereaux  PJAdhikari  NK  et al.  Randomized trials stopped early for benefit: a systematic review.  JAMA 2005;294 (17) 2203- 2209PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
27.
Ridker  PM The JUPITER trial: results, controversies and implications for prevention.  Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2009;2 (3) 279- 285PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
28.
Tunstall-Pedoe  HKuulasmaa  KMähönen  MTolonen  HRuokokoski  EAmouyel  P Contribution of trends in survival and coronary-event rates to changes in coronary heart disease mortality: 10-year results from 37 WHO MONICA project populations: monitoring trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease.  Lancet 1999;353 (9164) 1547- 1557PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
29.
Chan  PSNallamothu  BKHayward  RA Rosuvastatin in patients with elevated C-reactive protein [letter].  N Engl J Med 2009;360 (10) 1039Google Scholar
30.
Zipes  DPWellens  HJ Sudden cardiac death.  Circulation 1998;98 (21) 2334- 2351PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
31.
Zheng  ZJCroft  JBGiles  WHMensah  GA Sudden cardiac death in the United States, 1989 to 1998.  Circulation 2001;104 (18) 2158- 2163PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
32.
de Lorgeril  MSalen  P Cholesterol lowering and mortality: time for a new paradigm?  Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2006;16 (6) 387- 390PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
33.
Ridker  PMDanielson  EFonseca  FAH  et al. JUPITER Trial Study Group, Reduction in C-reactive protein and LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular event rates after initiation of rosuvastatin: a prospective study of the JUPITER trial.  Lancet 2009;373 (9670) 1175- 1182PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
34.
de Lorgeril  MSalen  PPaillard  FLaporte  FBoucher  Fde Leiris  J Mediterranean diet and the French paradox: two distinct biogeographic concepts for one consolidated scientific theory on the role of nutrition in coronary heart disease.  Cardiovasc Res 2002;54 (3) 503- 515PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
35.
Glynn  RJDanielson  EFonseca  FAH  et al.  A randomized trial of rosuvastatin in the prevention of venous thromboembolism.  N Engl J Med 2009;360 (18) 1851- 1861PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
36.
Mora  SGlynn  RJHsia  JMacFadyen  JGGenest  JRidker  PM Statins for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in women with elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein or dyslipidemia: results from the Justification for the Use of Statins in Prevention: An Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin (JUPITER) and meta-analysis of women from primary prevention trials.  Circulation 2010;121 (9) 1069- 1077PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
37.
Ridker  PMMacfadyen  JCressman  MGlynn  RJ  Efficacy of rosuvastatin among men and women with moderate chronic kidney disease and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: a secondary analysis from the JUPITER (Justification for the Use of Statins in Prevention—an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) trial.  J Am Coll Cardiol 2010;55 (12) 1266- 1273PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
38.
Glynn  RJKoenig  WNordestgaard  BGShepherd  JRidker  PM Rosuvastatin for primary prevention in older persons with elevated C-reactive protein and low to average low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels: exploratory analysis of a randomized trial.  Ann Intern Med 2010;152 (8) 488- 496, W174PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
39.
Ross  JSHill  KPEgilman  DSKrumholz  HM Guest authorship and ghostwriting in publications related to rofecoxib: a case study of industry documents from rofecoxib litigation.  JAMA 2008;299 (15) 1800- 1812PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
40.
Psaty  BMKronmal  RA Reporting mortality findings in trials of rofecoxib for Alzheimer disease or cognitive impairment: a case study based on documents from rofecoxib litigation.  JAMA 2008;299 (15) 1813- 1817PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
41.
Landefeld  CSSteinman  MA The Neurontin legacy: marketing through misinformation and manipulation.  N Engl J Med 2009;360 (2) 103- 106PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
42.
Mitka  M Controversies surround heart drug study: questions about Vytorin and trial sponsors' conduct.  JAMA 2008;299 (8) 885- 887PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
43.
Greenland  PLloyd-Jones  D Critical lessons from ENHANCE trial.  JAMA 2008;299 (8) 953- 955PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
44.
O’Riordan  M Congress continues to probe Merck and Schering-Plough: angry emails highlight ENHANCE controversy.  Medscape Web site http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/572392. Accessed April 1, 2008Google Scholar
45.
Asselbergs  FWDiercks  GFHHillege  HL  et al. Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease Intervention Trial (PREVEND IT) Investigators, Effect of fosinopril and pravastatin on cardiovascular events in subjects with microalbuminuria.  Circulation 2004;110 (18) 2809- 2816PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
46.
Pedersen  TRFaergeman  OKastelein  JJ  et al. Incremental Decrease in End Points Through Aggressive Lipid Lowering (IDEAL) Study Group, High-dose atorvastatin vs. usual-dose simvastatin for secondary prevention after myocardial infarction: the IDEAL study, a randomized controlled trial.  JAMA 2005;294 (19) 2437- 2445PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
47.
Bowman  LArmitage  JBulbulia  RParish  SCollins  RSEARCH Study Collaborative Group, Study of the effectiveness of additional reductions in cholesterol and homocysteine (SEARCH): characteristics of a randomized trial among 12064 myocardial infarction survivors.  Am Heart J 2007;154 (5) 815- 823, 823.e1-e6PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
48.
 Study of the effectiveness of additional reductions in cholesterol and homocysteine (SEARCH).  ISRCTN Register Web site http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN74348595/. Accessed December 12, 2007Google Scholar
49.
O’Riordan  M CASHMERE: no IMT effect with atorvastatin over 12 months.  theheart.org Web site http://www.theheart.org/article/880873.do. Accessed July 9, 2008Google Scholar
50.
O’Riordan  M ACHIEVE stopped: IMT study with Niacin/Laropiprant halted by Merck & Co.  theheart.org Web site http://www.theheart.org/article/869153.do. Accessed May 22, 2008Google Scholar
51.
de Lorgeril  M Disappointing recent cholesterol-lowering drug trials: is it not time for a full reappraisal of the cholesterol theory?  World Rev Nutr Diet 2009;10080- 89PubMedGoogle Scholar
52.
de Lorgeril  MSalen  PMartin  JLMonjaud  IDelaye  JMamelle  N Mediterranean diet, traditional risk factors and the rate of cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction: final report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study.  Circulation 1999;99 (6) 779- 785PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
53.
de Lorgeril  MSalen  PMartin  JLBoucher  FPaillard  Fde Leiris  J Wine drinking and risks of cardiovascular complications after recent acute myocardial infarction.  Circulation 2002;106 (12) 1465- 1469PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
Original Investigation
June 28, 2010

Cholesterol Lowering, Cardiovascular Diseases, and the Rosuvastatin-JUPITER Controversy: A Critical Reappraisal

Author Affiliations

Author Affiliations: Laboratoire Cœur and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Université Joseph Fourier and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Grenoble, France (Dr de Lorgeril and Ms Salen); Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (Dr Abramson); Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (Dr Dodin); Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Japan (Dr Hamazaki); Cardiology Department, Clinique Antoine Depage, Brussels, Belgium (Dr Kostucki); Open Research Center for Lipid Nutrition, Kinjo Gakuin University, Nagoya, Japan (Dr Okuyama); Réadaptation Cardiovasculaire, Centre Hospitalier de Machecoul, Machecoul, France (Dr Pavy); and Cardiology Department, Clinique de Genolier, Genolier, Switzerland (Dr Rabaeus).

Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(12):1032-1036. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2010.184
Abstract

Background  Among the recently reported cholesterol-lowering drug trials, the JUPITER (Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention) trial is unique: it reports a substantial decrease in the risk of cardiovascular diseases among patients without coronary heart disease and with normal or low cholesterol levels.

Methods  Careful review of both results and methods used in the trial and comparison with expected data.

Results  The trial was flawed. It was discontinued (according to prespecified rules) after fewer than 2 years of follow-up, with no differences between the 2 groups on the most objective criteria. Clinical data showed a major discrepancy between significant reduction of nonfatal stroke and myocardial infarction but no effect on mortality from stroke and myocardial infarction. Cardiovascular mortality was surprisingly low compared with total mortality—between 5% and 18%—whereas the expected rate would have been close to 40%. Finally, there was a very low case-fatality rate of myocardial infarction, far from the expected number of close to 50%. The possibility that bias entered the trial is particularly concerning because of the strong commercial interest in the study.

Conclusion  The results of the trial do not support the use of statin treatment for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases and raise troubling questions concerning the role of commercial sponsors.

The results of recent cholesterol-lowering drug trials on decreasing morbidity and mortality among persons with or without coronary heart disease (CHD) have been consistently negative.1-9 However, there is one exception, the JUPITER (Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention) trial,10 which showed—in primary prevention—a striking decrease in CHD complications. The JUPITER trial rapidly provoked controversy11-13 regarding both the results and the methods used in the trial. Although enthusiastic comments have been published,14-17 and the results have undoubtedly propelled many healthy persons without elevated cholesterol levels onto long-term statin treatment, the clinical relevance of the JUPITER trial remains in question. To understand the rosuvastatin-JUPITER controversy, we critically review several significant issues of that study.

The JUPITER trial tested the effects of rosuvastatin therapy (20 mg/d) in patients without cardiovascular history or established CHD and with normal or low cholesterol levels but relatively high levels of C-reactive protein, a fluctuating biologic marker of inflammation.18 The authors reported a 50% reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, a 37% reduction in C-reactive protein levels, and a roughly 50% decrease in cardiovascular complications.10 The publication of the JUPITER trial (in November 2008) was much anticipated since the announcement of the trial's premature discontinuation in March 2008,19,20 at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology, following the presentation of the disappointing results of the ENHANCE (Ezetimibe and Simvastatin in Hypercholesterolemia Enhances Atherosclerosis Regression) trial.9 Similarly to ezetimibe (tested in the ENHANCE trial), rosuvastatin was already the subject of aggressive marketing despite the absence of evidence that its use actually decreased CHD complications. Indeed, disregarding open-label studies such as ASTEROID (A Study to Evaluate the Effect of Rosuvastatin on Intravascular Ultrasound-Derived Coronary Atheroma Burden),21 3 trials with rosuvastatin (CORONA [Controlled Rosuvastatin Multinational Trial in Heart Failure],1 GISSI-HF [Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell’Infarto Miocardio–Heart Failure],3 and AURORA [A Study to Evaluate the Use of Rosuvastatin in Subjects on Regular Haemodialysis: An Assessment of Survival and Cardiovascular Events]5) had been conducted, and all had failed to provide evidence that rosuvastatin therapy reduces CHD complications. The failure of rosuvastatin to show a significant protective effect was also true for patients with established CHD, because most patients in the CORONA and GISSI-HF trials were survivors of a previous myocardial infarction.

Methodological problems in the jupiter trial

The JUPITER trial was prematurely terminated. Although having prespecified early stopping rules is a well-accepted feature of clinical trials, it is critical that the rules truly be prespecified. In the case of the JUPITER trial, the prespecified rules were not detailed in the published description of the study protocol.22 Indeed, we still do not know which end point was used to define them, or which level of benefits—unexpected on the basis of the a priori calculated hypothesis22—was required to justify early termination. Also, it was recently shown that truncated trials are associated with greater effect sizes than trials that are not stopped early, and this effect is independent of the presence of statistical stopping rules.23 In defending the decision to end the trial early, the JUPITER investigators stated that the decision was not made by them but by members of an independent safety-monitoring board.24 However, the chairman of this board—an investigator of the Clinical Trial Service Unit of Oxford University, Oxford, England—has been, and still is, involved in many other industry-sponsored lipid-lowering trials, raising issues of conflict of interest.25,26

Fueling concern about the termination of the study is that the data are not consistent with a large difference between treatment and placebo. The primary end point (Table, line 1) is a composite of cardiovascular complications, some of which—such as revascularization and hospital admission—are of less relevance because they are not complications but medical decisions. Taking only the hard end points of fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction and stroke (Table, line 8)—the end points that are less open to bias and manipulation—the trial was stopped after only 240 events. Furthermore, there was no difference in the incidence of serious adverse events (total hospitalizations, prolongations of hospitalizations, cancer, and permanent disability) between the 2 groups.

Moreover, a close examination of the all-cause mortality curves (Figure 1D in the first JUPITER article10) shows that the curves were actually converging when the trial was ended, suggesting that the borderline significant difference between groups may have disappeared in case of a slightly longer follow-up. Strangely, in a subsequent article27 that was apparently written to defuse the controversy, the all-cause mortality curves were truncated so that the previous converging portion was no longer displayed.

Clinical and epidemiological inconsistencies in the jupiter trial

In any trial, the consistency of clinical data must be examined to determine whether methodological flaws have increased the risk of bias. For instance, in cardiology, comparison of the rate of hard end points—fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction and stroke, which represent most cardiovascular complications in any population—to those expected from a comparable population, at least in the placebo group, provides such a check on methodology.

At first glance (Table), the difference between the 2 groups in terms of hard end points seems impressive (157 vs 83 for placebo and rosuvastatin, respectively). But are these differences plausible? Although an “unequivocal reduction in cardiovascular mortality” was announced in March 2008 as the main justification for the premature trial termination,19,20 the absence of cardiovascular mortality data in the published article is striking. One may infer from the Table—although not indicated in the text—that the total number of fatal myocardial infarctions was 9 in the rosuvastatin group (the difference between 31 “any myocardial infarctions” and 22 “nonfatal myocardial infarctions”) and 6 (68 − 62) in the placebo group. Similar calculations for fatal stroke (the difference between “any stroke” and “nonfatal stroke”) show 3 (33 − 30) in the rosuvastatin group and 6 (64 − 58) in the placebo group.

Cardiovascular mortality (fatal stroke plus fatal myocardial infarction) would therefore be identical in both groups (12 vs 12). Such a lack of effect on cardiovascular mortality associated with a strong effect on nonfatal complications strongly suggests a bias in the data set and should have led to the continuation of the trial rather than to its premature ending. Other inconsistencies add to the confusion.

First, the ratio of fatal myocardial infarction (9 for rosuvastatin and 6 for placebo) to nonfatal myocardial infarction (22 and 62) is incredibly low, especially in the placebo group. Mortality from acute myocardial infarction is a very important issue in cardiology. The data would suggest that the hearts of the JUPITER patients were unexpectedly—and inexplicably—highly resistant to acute ischemia and infarction. The worst consequence of low myocardial resistance to ischemia is death, often sudden cardiac death (SCD). Myocardial infarction–related death, the “case-fatality rate” in epidemiological reports, is usually very high and is known, thanks to the World Health Organization's MONICA study, in many populations with very different risks.28 Out of 100 patients who have a myocardial infarction, an average of 50 die immediately—usually out of hospital—or within the 3 to 4 weeks that follow, and almost never fewer than 40 out of 100, even in populations with low cardiovascular mortality, for example in Japan and around the Mediterranean sea.28 In the JUPITER trial, the case-fatality rate in the placebo group was incredibly low: 8.8%, a clinical inconsistency that suggests a major flaw in the study. Moreover, the case-fatality rate in the rosuvastatin group was 29%. This rate was significantly different from that in the placebo group (Fisher exact test, P = .01) and more consistent with (though still lower than) the range reported in the MONICA study.28 Another dilemma is raised by this figure as it would imply that the use of rosuvastatin tripled the case-fatality rate. This figure is not credible.

Second, other ways of calculating cardiovascular mortality in the JUPITER trial could be used. For instance, Chan et al29 used the combined end point “myocardial infarction + stroke + confirmed death from cardiovascular causes” (line 8 of the Table), from which they removed nonfatal myocardial infarction (line 2) and nonfatal stroke (line 4). They calculated that the numbers of deaths from cardiovascular causes were 31 and 37 in the rosuvastatin and placebo groups, respectively, not a significant difference. Because the total number of fatal myocardial infarction and stroke was 12 in both groups, it would mean that there were 19 and 25 cardiovascular deaths that were not due to myocardial infarction or stroke.

The question raised is obvious: What are the causes of these so many “other” cardiovascular deaths? In the March 5, 2009, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Ridker and Glynn24 explain that the calculations by Chan and colleagues are incorrect “because they do not account for deaths from vascular causes, such as aneurysm rupture.” Would this mean that in the same period of time there were 6 fatal infarctions and 25 fatal aneurysm ruptures in the placebo group? This is highly unlikely and still does not explain why the calculations made by Chan and coauthors are incorrect. Even Ridker and Glynn write that the number of confirmed deaths from cardiovascular causes was 35 in the rosuvastatin group and 43 in the placebo group (no significant difference), based on “very strict end point classification criteria” that are not clearly described, and surprisingly do not mention SCD.

Sudden cardiac death actually is the simplest and most reliable diagnosis in cardiology because, contrary to myocardial infarction, there is no need for biologic and/or electrocardiographic criteria. It is defined as a death occurring within 1 hour after the first symptoms of heart attack—or as an unwitnessed death.30 It is therefore very surprising that no SCD is reported in the JUPITER trial because SCD usually represents about 65% to 70% of total cardiac mortality.31 As previously underlined,32 the way SCD is reported—or not reported—may be a good indicator of the quality of the methods used in a trial.

None of these clinically inconsistent numbers has been explained in the different JUPITER articles.10,27,33 Although it is quite unusual that the burden of calculating cardiovascular mortality is placed on the readers, all methods used, however, lead to the same conclusion: there is no significant difference in cardiovascular mortality between the 2 groups in the JUPITER trial. Moreover, cardiovascular mortality in the JUPITER trial appears to be unexpectedly low compared with total mortality—between 5 and 18%, depending on the means of calculation—whereas the expected rate would have been close to 40% in a non-Japanese and non-Mediterranean population.28,34 These mortality data are not epidemiologically consistent, and the early termination of the JUPITER trial likely was, at least partly, responsible for that lack of consistency.

Therefore, the JUPITER data set appears biased. Three other trials1,3,5 involving rosuvastatin therapy in high-risk patients did not show any protection. The authors of the JUPITER study fail to comment on these negative trials but go on to report secondary end point and subgroup analyses that appear to support the efficacy (and safety) of rosuvastatin therapy.35-38 For example, an entire article was devoted to reporting a significant benefit in 1 secondary end point, reduction of venous thromboembolisms,35 whereas the significant increase in new diagnoses of diabetes among patients taking rosuvastatin—a no less important secondary outcome—was relegated to a short comment.10 Similarly, secondary analyses of subgroups—women,36 patients with moderate chronic kidney disease,37 or persons 70 years or older38—are subject to all the limitations of the main data set.

The sponsor's role and conflicts of interest in the jupiter trial

The JUPITER trial involved multiple conflicts of interest. It was conducted by a sponsor with obvious commercial interests. Nine of 14 authors of the JUPITER article10 have financial ties to the sponsor. The principal investigator has a personal conflict of interest as a coholder of the patent for the C-reactive protein test.

The sponsor's pervasive role is clearly described in the second paragraph of the “Methods” section of the report: “the sponsor collected the trial data and monitored the study sites.”10 It means that the sponsor's own investigators controlled and managed the raw data. This does not mean that raw data have been modified before being transmitted to statisticians, but it does increase the chance of bias seeping into the data set, as the misrepresentation of data about rofecoxib,39,40 gabapentin,41 and ENHANCE9,42-44 have shown.

In conclusion, the results of the JUPITER trial are clinically inconsistent and therefore should not change medical practice or clinical guidelines. The results of the JUPITER trial support concerns that commercially sponsored clinical trials are at risk of poor quality and bias. Documentation of the failure of the JUPITER trial to demonstrate a protective effect of rosuvastatin is all the more important as it occurred in the context of the failure of more than 12 other cholesterol-lowering trials published in recent years and in various clinical settings.1-9,45-48 None of these trials provided significant evidence of protection against CHD complications—especially fatal complications—by cholesterol lowering. Two other cholesterol-lowering studies were either not published49 or abruptly halted50 because of lack of effect. These failures strongly suggest that the presumed preventive effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs have been considerably exaggerated.32,51

Clearly, the time has come for a critical reappraisal of cholesterol-lowering and statin treatments for the prevention of CHD complications. The emphasis on pharmaceuticals for the prevention of CHD diverts individual and public health attention away from the proven efficacy of adopting a healthy lifestyle, including regular physical activity, not smoking, and a Mediterranean-style diet.52,53

Correspondence: Michel de Lorgeril, MD, Laboratoire Cœur and Nutrition, Faculté de Médecine, TIMC-IMAG, Université Joseph Fourier and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5525, Domaine de la Merci, 38706 La Tronche, France (michel.delorgeril@ujf-grenoble.fr).

Accepted for Publication: April 20, 2010.

Author Contributions:Study concept and design: de Lorgeril and Rabaeus. Acquisition of data: Hamazaki. Analysis and interpretation of data: de Lorgeril, Salen, Abramson, Dodin, Hamazaki, Kostucki, Okuyama, and Pavy. Drafting of the manuscript: de Lorgeril and Rabaeus. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: de Lorgeril, Salen, Abramson, Dodin, Hamazaki, Kostucki, Okuyama, Pavy, and Rabaeus. Statistical analysis: de Lorgeril and Abramson. Administrative, technical, and material support: Abramson. Study supervision: Kostucki and Rabaeus.

Financial Disclosure: Dr Abramson has served as an expert for plaintiffs' attorneys in litigation involving the pharmaceutical industry (not involving rosuvastatin), as an unpaid consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice in investigations involving the pharmaceutical industry, and as a consultant to Wells Fargo Insurance Services.

Disclaimer: The opinions and analyses expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the authors' affiliated institutions.

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