Interventions of atorvastatin for inflammatory reaction in brain tissue of atherosclerotic rabbit

Objective To observe the effect of atorvastatin on the levels of AngiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ),Nuclear factor Kappa B(NF-κB)and inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS)in brain tissue of atherosclerotic rabbit and to investigate its mechanism of improving atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease.Methods Twenty-four New Zealand white rabbits were randomly allocated into:a normal control,a high-fat diet and an atorvastatin group,8 rabbits in each group.The rabbits in the normal control group were fed with common pellet feed 100 g/d,in the high-fat diet group were fed with common pellet feed 100 g+1.5% cholesterol/d,and in the atorvastatin group were fed the same feed as the high-fat diet group and atorvastatin 2.5 mg/kg/d.After feeding for 8 weeks,the levels of serum total cholesterol(TC)and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)were observed;the expressions of AngⅡ and NF-κB were detected by immunohistochemistry;the expression of NF-κB was detected by Western blot;and the activities of iNOS were measured by spectrophotometry.Results ①Light microscopic examination of the train tissue in the high-fat diet,atorvastatin and normal control groups:A great deal of foam cells aggregation and inflammatory cells infiltration were observed in the high-fat diet group.There were only a few foam cells and inflammatory cell infiltration in the atorvastatin group.The cell structure was normal in the normal control group.②The results of immunohistochemistry:The AngⅡ positive units in the 3 groups were 17.1±2.7,15.3±1.7 and 5.2 ±1.3 respectively,and the NF-κB were 22.2±2.6,9.5±1.1 and 6.9±1.6,respectively.As compared with high-fat diet group,there were significant differences between the expressions of AngⅡ and NF-κB in the atorvastatin group(P0.01).③The results of Western blot:The absorbance values of NF-κB in the 3 groups were 0.9988±0.0041,0.5810±0.0020 and 0.5621±0.0024,respectively.The expression of NF-κB in the high-fat diet group was significantly higher than that of the normal control group and the atorvastatin group(P0.01).④The activities of iNOS:The absorbance values in the 3 groups were 10.0±0.9,4.8±0.6 and 3.4±0.4,respectively.Atorvastatin Group was significantly lower than the high-fat diet group(P0.01),however,the former was still higher than the normal control group(P0.01).Conclusion Atorvastatin may decrease the effect of hyperlipidemia on inflammatory injury of brain tissue by inhibiting the expressions of AngⅡ,NF-κB and iNOS.