title: Effect of rosuvastatin on systemic blood pressure in patients with hypercholesterolemia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether rosuvastatin reduces blood pressure (BP) in patients with hypercholesterolemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study investigated the effect of rosuvastatin on lipids and clinical parameters in 25 patients with a mean (± SD) age of 58.4±10.6 years over a three-month period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rosuvastatin (2.5 mg/day to 5.0 mg/day) reduced systolic BP from 136.3±13.1 mmHg to 130.8±10.7 mmHg (P<0.01), along with a significant reduction in serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (P<0.01). The patients were divided into two groups: 13 responders whose BP decreased by >5 mmHg with rosuvastatin treatment and 12 nonresponders who showed a BP reduction of ≤5 mmHg. Baseline systolic BP was significantly higher in responders than nonresponders (143.6±9.6 mmHg versus 128.4±11.9 mmHg, respectively; P<0.01). Responders also had a lower serum concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein compared with nonresponders (0.11±0.07 mg/dL versus 0.40±0.28 mg/dL; P<0.01). The extent of BP reduction was positively correlated with baseline systolic BP (r=0.585; P=0.0021) but not with the reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. Among the patients with baseline systolic BP >130 mmHg, all 11 responders (138.3 mmHg) were nonsmokers, while five of six nonresponders (145.7 mmHg) were smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rosuvastatin had an additive antihypertensive effect in patients with poorly controlled hypertension that was independent of its lipid-lowering effect, which may be related to an inflammatory mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Katsushika Medical Center, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Michihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Nobuakira
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeda
keywords: Blood pressure; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors; Hypercholesterolemia; Hypertension