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Influence of Short-term Rosuvastatin Therapy on Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Endothelial Function

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy, mpirro{at}unipg.it

Giuseppe Schillaci, MD

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Paolo F. Romagno, MD

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Massimo R. Mannarino, MD

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Francesco Bagaglia, BSc

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Rolando Razzi, BSc

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Leonella Pasqualini, MD

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Gaetano Vaudo, MD

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Elmo Mannarino, MD

Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Endothelial progenitor cells maintain endothelium integrity by replacing injured endothelial cells. Cholesterol-lowering promotes either endothelial progenitor cells mobilization or improves endothelial function. It is unknown whether improving endothelial function with statin is associated with a parallel increased endothelial progenitor cells availability. Thirty-two hypercholesterolemic patients were assigned to 4-week rosuvastatin (10 mg daily) and 16 hypercholesterolemic served as controls. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells, brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation, an index of endothelial function, and the lipid profile were measured before and after the 4-week statin therapy. At baseline, we found a correlation between circulating endothelial progenitor cells and flow-mediated vasodilatation (r = .31, P = .029). At the end of the 4-week intervention with rosuvastatin there was a 37% reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < .001) and a significant 72% increase in the number of endothelial progenitor cells and flow-mediated vasodilatation (4.7 + 0.7% to 8.8 + 0.4%, P < .001). Endothelial progenitor cells and flow-mediated vasodilatation were unchanged at the end of the study in patients not taking statin. A correlation emerged between endothelial progenitor cells and flow-mediated vasodilatation variations (r = .52, P < .001), this correlation being still significant after controlling for blood cholesterol reduction. In conclusion, short-term rosuvastatin therapy contributes in hyperchoelsterolemic patients to improving endothelial function by lowering cholesterol and increasing the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells; the latter effect appears to be partly independent from reduction in plasma cholesterol.

Key Words: hypercholesterolemia • endothelial progenitor cells • endothelial dysfunction • statin

This version was published on March 1, 2009

Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Vol. 14, No. 1, 14-21 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1074248408331021


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