Effect of Atorvastatin on Inflammatory Factors and Carotid Atherosclerosis Plaques in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of atorvastatin on inflammatory factors and carotid atherosclerotic plaques in patients with acute coronary syndrome(ACS).METHODS: 68 ACS patients were randomly divided into atorvastatin group and control group.Atorvastatin group was treated with oral atorvastatin tablets 20 mg·d-1 for 20 weeks.The treatments of control group were same to those of atorvastatin group except for oral administration of atorvastatin.RESULTS: After 20 weeks of treatment,the plasma levels of hs-CRP and IL-18 decreased significantly(P0.05 or P0.01),compared with before treatment.And the decrease of atorvastatin group was more evident(P0.05).After 20 weeks of treatment,thickness and plaque size,IMT of carotid artery(IMT) in atorvastatin group was significantly reduced(P0.05),while there was no significant change in quantity of plaque(P0.05).The size,thickness,quantity and IMT of plaque in control group had no significant difference before and after treatment(P0.05).CONCLUSION: Atorvastatin has anti-inflammatory effect on the ACS and can improve blood vessel plaque inflammation.It can block and reverse coronary atherosclerotic plaques.