title: The anti-atherosclerotic effects of lipid lowering with atorvastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia.
abstract: We investigated the lipid lowering and anti-atherosclerotic effects of atorvastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia. Thirty patients were given atorvastatin 10 mg daily, and assessed for serum lipids, intima-media thickness (IMT), and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) at the baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Remnant-like particle-cholesterol (RLP-C), lipoprotein (a)(Lp(a)), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured in some patients at the baseline and at 6 months. Total cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly decreased by 32%, 23% and 44% at 6 months, respectively, and these effects were sustained at 12 months. There was no change in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. IMT at the baseline was 0.88 +/- 0.16 mm and decreased to 0.76 +/- 0.13 mm at 6 months, remaining at 0.75 +/- 0.12 mm at 12 months. We did not observe any significant changes in ba-PWV. RLP-C and hs-CRP were significantly reduced from 7.3 +/- 10.8 mg/dL to 4.3 +/- 5.3 mg/dL and 0.075 +/- 0.065 mg/dL to 0.039 +/- 0.043 mg/dL at 6 months, respectively. There was no change in Lp(a). The observed decrease in IMT suggests that atorvastatin possibly improves atherosclerosis, in addition to the significant reduction of serum lipids.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical & Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan. k-ozaki@hosp.niigata.niigata.jp
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Imaki
authors.forename: Hisahito
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shinagawa
authors.forename: Hidehira
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukaya
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtaki
authors.forename: Seiga
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Yoshifusa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aizawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000069059:Atorvastatin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D006538:Heptanoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood*; D007249:Inflammation; D008055:Lipids; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000378:metabolism; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D006538:Heptanoic Acids; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D008055:Lipids; D011758:Pyrroles; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D000069059:Atorvastatin