title: Effects of atorvastatin on the hypertension-induced oxidative stress in the rat brain.
abstract: It is well known that the development of brain oxidative stress is one of the most serious complications of arterial hypertension that evokes brain tissue damage. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of atorvastatin treatment (20 mg/kg/day), as an antioxidant, to prevent the brain tissue oxidative stress in the hypertensive (HTN) rats.
  
  
  
  Experiments were performed in four groups of rats (n = 5 each group): sham, sham-treated, HTN and HTN treated. Rats were made HTN by aortic constriction above the renal arteries. After 30 days, rats were slaughtered under deep anesthesia to remove brain hemispheres. After tissue homogenization, enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), as well as glutathione (GSH) content and malondialdehyde (MDA) level were determined by biochemical methods.
  
  
  
  In HTN rats, arterial blood pressure was increased about 40% and brain enzyme activities of SOD and CAT were significantly decreased compared with sham group. Induction of hypertension significantly decreased GSH content and increased MDA level of brain tissue. Treatment with atorvastatin enhanced the activity of SOD and prevented from GSH decrement during hypertension.
  
  
  
  Based on the findings of this study, treatment with atorvastatin might have saved the brain tissue of HTN rats from hypertension-induced oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammadimohammadt@bmsu.ac.ir
authors.forename: Mohammad Taghi
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammadimohammadt@bmsu.ac.ir
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amini
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammadimohammadt@bmsu.ac.ir
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jahanbakhsh
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physiology, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan Branch, Fars, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shekarforoush
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000069059:Atorvastatin; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D006538:Heptanoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006538:Heptanoic Acids; D011758:Pyrroles; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D000069059:Atorvastatin; D002374:Catalase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005978:Glutathione
keywords: Atorvastatin; Aortic coarctation; Hypertension