Statins induce the regression of left ventricular mass in patients with angina.
Background There is evidence that statins induce the regression of cardiac hypertrophy in a transgenic rabbit model of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Methods and Results The association between treatment with statins and the regression of cardiac mass (left ventricular mass index, LVMI) was investigated in a case - control study using transthoracic echocardiography in 304 patients with angina who underwent coronary angiography. Those who received pravastatin or simvastatin were defined as cases (n=66), and age, sex and body mass index-matched controls (n=127) were selected. The cases showed a significant decrease in LVMI compared with the controls. Although the cases included a significantly higher percentage of patients with hypertension and calcium antagonist (CaA) treatment than the controls, there were no relationships between LVMI and either hypertension or CaA treatment. Because the cases had a significantly higher number of stenosed vessels than the controls, LVMI for each number of stenosed vessels was analyzed, and a significant interaction effect between the association of LVMI with statin and the number of stenosed vessels was found. Conclusions Treatment with statins was associated with a lower cardiac mass in patients with angina, suggesting that this is one of the drugs' pleiotropic effects.
Nishikawa
Hiroaki
H
Department of Cardiology, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Japan.
Miura
Shin-ichiro
S
Zhang
Bo
B
Shimomura
Hideki
H
Arai
Hidekazu
H
Tsuchiya
Yoshihiro
Y
Matsuo
Kunihiro
K
Saku
Keijiro
K
D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006973:Hypertension; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017035:Pravastatin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019821:Simvastatin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D019821:Simvastatin; D017035:Pravastatin