Endothelial progenitor cells in patients with acute cerebrovascular ischemia.
OBJECTIVE
Statins have been shown to increase endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, there is no similar study that has been done on the patients recovering from cerebrovascular disease. We present the largest prospective study of statin therapy on EPC levels of patients recovering from stroke.


METHODS
Our study subjects were treated with rosuvastatin (10 mg/day) over a period of 12 weeks. Blood was collected from these patients periodically and EPC levels were measured along with other biochemical parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows that rosuvastatin treatment significantly reduces the low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels in the patients over the 12 weeks. However, we did not find any corresponding changes in the EPC levels during this time period. Earlier reports indicated that statin use could increase EPC proliferation. Our research, however, indicates that the in-vivo effects of rosuvastatin are not similar to those of previous reports. There may be several reasons for this lack of congruence between these two studies, including age of the study population, predominantly low high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in our subjects and effects from other concomitant medications.
Stroke Research Program, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Askar
A
Mohammad
Usman
U
Ghani
Brenda
B
Schwindt
Ashfaq
A
Shuaib
D000368:Aged; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005464:Fluorobenzenes / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000068718:Rosuvastatin Calcium; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013997:Time Factors
D005464:Fluorobenzenes; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D011743:Pyrimidines; D013449:Sulfonamides; D000068718:Rosuvastatin Calcium