Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2010 Jun;41(6):1163-8.
doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.580811. Epub 2010 Apr 22.

Atorvastatin reduces macrophage accumulation in atherosclerotic plaques: a comparison of a nonstatin-based regimen in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy

Massimo Puato  1 , Elisabetta Faggin, Marcello Rattazzi, Alberto Zambon, Francesco Cipollone, Franco Grego, Lorenzo Ganassin, Mario Plebani, Andrea Mezzetti, Paolo Pauletto
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Atorvastatin reduces macrophage accumulation in atherosclerotic plaques: a comparison of a nonstatin-based regimen in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy

Massimo Puato et al. Stroke. 2010 Jun.

Abstract

Background and purpose: The object of our study was to compare the effect of high-dose vs low-dose atorvastatin vs nonstatin-based treatment (cholestyramine plus sitosterol) on cell composition of carotid plaque.

Methods: We recruited 60 hypercholesterolemic patients (total cholesterol, 5.83-7.64 mmol/L) eligible for carotid endarterectomy. Three months before surgery, patients were randomized into 3 groups (n=20) receiving atorvastatin 10 mg/day (AT-10) or atorvastatin 80 mg/day (AT-80) or cholestyramine 8 g/day plus sitosterol 2.5 g/day. Analysis of cell composition was performed on endarterectomy specimens.

Results: The 3 treatments resulted in a significant reduction of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), although the decrease in total cholesterol and LDL-C was of smaller magnitude in the cholestyramine plus sitosterol group. The 3 regimens did not influence the levels of inflammatory markers (including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein). Macrophage content was significantly lower in the AT-10 group plaques compared to the cholestyramine plus sitosterol group. It was further reduced in the AT-80 group plaques. These differences were no longer significant after adjustment for changes in LDL-C. No difference in lymphocyte number was observed among treatments, whereas the content of smooth muscle cells was higher in the AT- 80 group. An inverse association was observed between LDL-C changes in the 3 groups and macrophage content in the plaques.

Conclusions: Short-term treatment with high-dose statin is superior to a nonstatin lipid-lowering regimen in reducing the macrophage cell content within atherosclerotic lesions, but this effect was determined by the degree of LDL-C-lowering.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms