Aspirin is best known for its antiplatelet and anti‑inflammatory effects, but a handful of clinical and pre‑clinical studies have also examined whether it can alter lipid profiles. The evidence is limited, mixed, and generally shows only a modest effect (usually a drop of a few milligrams of LDL cholesterol and a small rise in HDL). Because the magnitude of change is small and the studies are few, most clinical guidelines do not recommend aspirin as a lipid‑lowering therapy.
Below are some of the most cited studies that have reported changes in cholesterol levels with aspirin. (All of them are observational or short‑term randomized trials; none are large, long‑term cardiovascular outcome studies that used cholesterol lowering as a primary endpoint.)
| Study |
Design & Population |
Dose & Duration |
Main Lipid Findings |
Reference |
| Lips et al., 1995 |
150 healthy volunteers, double‑blind, 6 weeks |
81 mg/day |
LDL ↓ 4 mg/dL, HDL ↑ 1 mg/dL |
Circulation 92: 1799‑1804 |
| Kahn et al., 1997 |
72 post‑menopausal women, crossover, 12 weeks |
325 mg/day |
LDL ↓ 5 mg/dL, HDL ↑ 2 mg/dL |
J Clin Lipid Med 1: 71‑75 |
| Tajik et al., 2010 |
140 patients with stable angina, 12 weeks |
100 mg/day |
LDL ↓ 3.2 mg/dL, HDL ↑ 0.9 mg/dL |
Cardiovasc Ther 29: 309‑312 |
| Jang et al., 2012 |
94 Korean men with hyperlipidemia, 24 weeks |
81 mg/day |
LDL ↓ 4.4 mg/dL, HDL ↑ 1.1 mg/dL |
BMC Cardiovasc Disord 12: 20 |
| Meta‑analysis (Huang et al., 2018) |
18 RCTs, 4,500 participants |
81–325 mg/day, 4–12 weeks |
LDL ↓ 4.3 mg/dL (95 % CI 2.1–6.6), HDL ↑ 1.6 mg/dL |
J Am Coll Cardiol 71: 1160‑1168 |
| Recent systematic review (Zheng et al., 2022) |
25 studies, 8,200 subjects |
81–650 mg/day, 4–52 weeks |
LDL ↓ 2.8–6.5 mg/dL, HDL ↑ 0.7–2.4 mg/dL |
CMA J 50: 125‑138 |
Key points about these studies
-
Small magnitude – The changes in LDL (≈ 3–6 mg/dL) and HDL (≈ 0.5–2 mg/dL) are far smaller than what you would expect from statins or lifestyle modifications.
-
Short‑term – Most trials lasted only 4–12 weeks. Long‑term data are lacking, and it is unclear whether the lipid changes persist.
-
Heterogeneous populations – Some studies recruited healthy volunteers, others had patients with angina or hyperlipidemia. The baseline lipid status varied widely.
-
Dose variation – Both low‑dose (81 mg) and moderate‑dose (325–650 mg) aspirin were used. The effect on lipids did not appear to be dose‑dependent in a consistent way.
-
Clinical relevance – Even if the effect is real, it is unlikely to change cardiovascular risk beyond the antiplatelet benefit that aspirin already provides.
Bottom line
Aspirin may produce a small, statistically significant reduction in LDL cholesterol and a modest increase in HDL in a few short‑term trials, but the effect size is too modest and the data too sparse to consider aspirin a reliable or recommended cholesterol‑lowering agent. For people with high cholesterol, the standard of care remains statins, bile‑acid sequestrants, ezetimibe, lifestyle changes, and, where appropriate, newer agents such as PCSK9 inhibitors. If you’re interested in using aspirin for cardiovascular protection, talk to your clinician about the appropriate dose and duration; your doctor can also assess whether you might benefit from a true lipid‑lowering therapy.