Effects of atorvastatin on the activity of nuclear factor-kappa B in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and urinary albumin excretion rate in elderly patients with early diabetic nephropathy

Objective To observe the effects of atorvastatin on the phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB) P65(Ser536) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells,and on the levels of serum inflammatory factors,including high sensitivity C reactive protein(hs-CRP),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),and interleukin-1β(IL-1β),and on urinary albumin excretion rate(UAER) in elderly patients with early diabetic nephropathy.Methods There were 30 control subjects(NC group,n = 30) and 66 elderly patients with type 2 diabetics and early diabetic nephropathy in this study.Sixty-six patients were randomly divided into 2 group:routine treatment group(DN1 group,n = 31) and routine treatment plus atorvastatin intervention group(DN2 group,n = 35).Inflammatory markers were observed in the three groups.Changes of inflammatory markers and UAER were observed and compared between DN1 and DN2 group.Results As compared with those in control subjects,levels of NF-κB were higher in patients with diabetics(0.95 ± 0.18 vs.0.47 ± 0.15,P 0.01),and levels of hs-CRP,TNF-α,IL-6,and IL-1β were significantly higher in patients with diabetics(P 0.01).After 12 weeks of treatment,levels of inflammatory markers and UAER were significantly decreased in DN2 group(P 0.05),and level of NF-κB was decreased from 0.95 ± 0.17 to 0.81 ± 0.14(P 0.05).There was no significant changes in DN1 group(P 0.05).Conclusion Atorvastatin may benefit patients with diabetes mellitus by ameliorating inflammatory state,as well as reducing urinary albumin and decelerating deterioration of renal function.