Rogers AJ, et al. - In this retrospective study of a multicenter North American randomized controlled clinical trial (ARDS Network Statins for Acutely Injured Lungs from Sepsis), researchers investigated if randomization to statin therapy correlated with increased interleukin-18 level among subjects with infection-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (n=683, 92% of the original trial population). Participants randomly received rosuvastatin or placebo for up to 28 days or 3 days following ICU discharge. The link between interleukin-18 level at baseline, increasing interleukin-18, and the influence of statin treatment on 60-day death, adjusting for severity of illness, was assessed. Findings revealed a link between elevated baseline plasma interleukin-18 and higher mortality in sepsis-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome. They also found a link between an increase in plasma interleukin-18 and increased mortality. In subjects randomized to statin therapy, a rise in plasma interleukin-18 was more commonly observed.