Effect of Different Doses of Atorvastatin on the Inflammatory Factors and Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis in Cerebral Infarction Patients

Objective To investigate the effect of different doses of atorvastatin on the inflammatory factors,serum lipids,and carotid artery atherosclerosis in patients with cerebral infarction.Methods Sixty-eight cerebral infarction patients were divided into three groups:group A(control group,n=21) were given the normal cerebral infarction teraphy,and group B(10 mg group,n=25),and group C(20 mg group,n=22) were given atorvastatin 10 mg and 20 mg every night.The serum level of high sensitivity in C reactive protein(hs-CRP),matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9),serum lipid,the carotid artery intimal and media thickness(IMT) and plaque areas were measured before and after treatment of six months.Results The serum lipids and inflammatory factors showed significant changes in all three groups after six months of treatment.In group C,the IMI and plaque area were significantly different after treatment(P0.05).The levels of hs-CRP,MMP-9,and serum lipids in groups B and C were significantly different from those in group A(P0.05).Compared with group C,the TC,TG,LDL-C,hs-CRP,MMP-9 levels in group B showed significant differences.Conclusion For patients with cerebral infarction,atorvastatin(especially 20 mg) can effectively lower their serum lipids and inflammatory factors and therefore ameliorate carotid artery atherosclerosis.