OBJECTIVES: Statins are the first-line drug therapy in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The beneficial clinicalimpact of statins on the cardiovascular system resultsnot only from their lipid-lowering action but also from their pleiotropic effects. Recently, it has been suggested thatstatins can reduce blood pressure; however the available data are still ambiguousand often conflicting. Therefore we performed the meta-analysis to investigate the potential hypotensive action of statins in patients with or without hypertension. METHODS: Data from Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for years 1966 to October 2011 were searched for studies that investigated the effect of statins on blood pressure either in normotensive or hypertensive subjects. RESULTS: Finally the meta-analysis included 18 trials - 5628 subjects (4692 normotensive, 936 hypertensive) randomized to receive either statins or placebo.The standardized effect size of mean differences of systolic (DSBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DDBP) in normotensive patients for ten included trials for statins therapy was 0.006 (95%CI: -0.052-0.063; p=0.84) and -0.03 (95%CI: -0.09-0.03; p=0.3), respectively. For hypertensive patients treated with statins (8 included trials) the standardized effect size of DSBP and DDBP was 0.07 (95%CI: -0.07-0.21; p=0.33) and -0.12 (95%CI: -0.36-0.11; p=0.31), respectively.  CONCLUSIONS: Despite previous suggestions, statin therapy in normotensive or hypertensive patients does not lead to reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Despite these results, however, the routine use of statins, especially in patients with hypertension should be always considered due to the essential reduction of cardiovascular events.