The effect of pravastatin on myocardial ischemia induced by exercise testing in patients with stable exertional angina pectoris and hypercholesterolemia

Objective To investigate the effect of pravastatin on myocardial ischemia induced by exercise testing in patients with stable exertional angina pectoris and hypercholesterolemia.Methods All the patients with stable exertional angina pectoris,positive exercise test and hypercholesterolemia were randomly assigned to 12-week treatment period either diet plus pravastatin(n=58) or diet alone(n=56).All the patients underwent exercise testing before and after the treatment period.Results(1) Pravastatin–treated patients had a significant variation in total cholesterol,triglycerides,high–density lipoprotein cholesterol and low–density lipoprotein cholesterol after treatment(P0.05),whereas the diet–alone group had not;(2)After 12 weeks of treatment,only 15 patients(26%) in the pravastatin group had a positive exercise test,whereas 49 patients(88%) of the diet group still had positive tests( P0.05).After treatment,the patients in the pravastatin group had significantly improved exercise tolerance,prolonged time to ST depression of 1.0 mm and reduced the severity of ST depression.Conclusion Besides the cholesterol-lowering effect,pravastatin can reduce exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with stable exertional angina pectoris and hypercholesterolemia.