Effects of Atorvastatin Calcium on Blood Pressure and Left Ventricular Function in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Objective:To observe the effects of atorvastatin calcium on systolic blood pressure(SBP), left ventricular function and the change of left ventricular hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR) and investigate the mechanism of this functional changes.Methods: The male SHRs(n=21) and WKYs(n=9) at 10 weeks of age were divided into 3 groups: the normal control group(WKY group),experimental control group(SHR group,n=10),and SHR-A group [SHR treated with atorvastatin 50 mg/(kg·d),n=11].After 16-week therapy,the rats were studied for tail-cuff systolic blood pressure(SBP),invasive left ventricular function,left ventricle mass index(LVMI),serum level of endothelin-1(ET-1) and the activity of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca~(2+)-ATPase(SERCA) in left ventricle.Comparison between two groups was done by t test and analysis of variance.Results: Compared with SHR group,SHR-A rats showed reduction of SBP by 17.11 mmHg,significantly lowered time constant of left ventricular relaxation [(1.02±0.04) ms vs(2.38±0.59) ms,P0.05],left ventricle mass index(LVMI) [(3.08±0.20) mg/g vs(3.31±0.23) mg/g,P0.05] and serum level of ET-1 [(131.94±26.84) pg/ml vs(196.96±38.87) pg/ml,P0.001].The activity of SERCA in left ventricle was a bit higher in SHR-A.Conclusion: Therapy with atorvastatin showed effects to delay blood pressure increasing in SHR,which may help to improve the left ventricular diastolic function and effectively inhibit left ventrical hypertrophy.