title: Simvastatin mitigates increases in risk factors for and the occurrence of cardiac disease following 10 Gy total body irradiation.
abstract: The ability of simvastatin to mitigate the increases in risk factors for and the occurrence of cardiac disease after 10 Gy total body irradiation (TBI) was determined. This radiation dose is relevant to conditioning for stem cell transplantation and threats from radiological terrorism. Male rats received single dose TBI of 10 Gy. Age-matched, sham-irradiated rats served as controls. Lipid profile, heart and liver morphology and cardiac mechanical function were determined for up to 120 days after irradiation. TBI resulted in a sustained increase in total- and LDL-cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol), and triglycerides. Simvastatin (10 mg/kg body weight/day) administered continuously from 9 days after irradiation mitigated TBI-induced increases in total- and LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as liver injury. TBI resulted in cellular peri-arterial fibrosis, whereas control hearts had less collagen and fibrosis. Simvastatin mitigated these morphological injuries. TBI resulted in cardiac mechanical dysfunction. Simvastatin mitigated cardiac mechanical dysfunction 20-120 days following TBI. To determine whether simvastatin affects the ability of the heart to withstand stress after TBI, injury from myocardial ischemia/reperfusion was determined in vitro. TBI increased the severity of an induced myocardial infarction at 20 and 80 days after irradiation. Simvastatin mitigated the severity of this myocardial infarction at 20 and 80 days following TBI. It is concluded simvastatin mitigated the increases in risk factors for cardiac disease and the extent of cardiac disease following TBI. This statin may be developed as a medical countermeasure for the mitigation of radiation-induced cardiac disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenarczyk
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Jidong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Steven T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Haworth
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Komorowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Brian L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Fish
authors.affiliation: Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System Phoenix, Arizona.
authors.forename: Raymond Q
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Migrino
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Leanne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harmann
authors.affiliation: Green Templeton College and Particle Therapy Cancer Research Institute, University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hopewell
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kronenberg
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Shailendra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Moulder
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; Children's Research Institute, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Baker
keywords: blood lipids; cardiovascular risk factors; coronary sclerosis; simvastatin; total body irradiation; ventricular function