Effects of lipid-lowering therapy with rosuvastatin on atherosclerotic burden in patients with chronic kidney disease.
OBJECTIVE
Although previous studies suggest that treatment of dyslipidemia with statins reduces mortality and morbidity that are associated with cardiovascular disease, only a few studies have examined the efficacy of statins on atherosclerotic status in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).


METHODS
A 12-month, prospective, randomized study was designed to assess the efficacy of rosuvastatin in reducing circulating atherosclerotic parameters and renal function in patients with CKD. Thirty-eight patients with CKD and LDL cholesterol levels > or =100 mg/dL were randomly assigned to receive 2.5 mg/dL rosuvastatin (group A, n=22) or nonrosuavastatin therapy (group B, n=16). Lipid profile, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured before and 12 months after rosuvastatin was added to the treatment.


RESULTS
Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, remnant-like particle-cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly reduced only in patients who received rosuvastatin. These parameters remained unchanged in patients who were not treated with rosuvastatin. eGFR was significantly increased from 50.7+/-18.7 mL/min/1.73 m(2) to 53.3+/-20.1 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and a significant reduction of U-P was detected in group A patients (0.17+/-0.29 vs. 0.13+/-0.3 g/day; p<0.01). In addition to the hypolipidemic effect, rosuvastatin treatment significantly reduced hs-CRP (p=0.0054). Moreover, maximal IMT at the baseline (1.89+/-0.98 mm) decreased significantly to 1.75+/-0.87 mm at 12 months (p=0.0231).


CONCLUSIONS
Rosuvastatin treatment, in addition to its beneficial effect on cholesterol levels, reduced maximal IMT and modified the inflammatory state of these patients.
Sawara
Yukako
Y
Department of Medicine, Kidney Center, Tokyo Women's Medical University.
Takei
Takashi
T
Uchida
Keiko
K
Ogawa
Tetsuya
T
Yoshida
Takumi
T
Tsuchiya
Ken
K
Nitta
Kosaku
K