Effect of atorvastatin on the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in aorta of diabetic rats

Objective To investigate the change of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1)in the aorta of diabetic(DM) rats and the effects of atorvastatin on the expression of MCP-1. Methods Thirty SD rats aged 8 weeks were assigned randomly to receive streptozotocin at a dose of 60 mg/kg intraperitoneally (diabetes) or citrate buffer alone (normal controls). One week after injection, only streptozotocin-treated rats with plasma glucose concentrations above 16.7 mmol/L were considered to be diabetic and were subsequently dividied into two DM group and AT group(received atorvastatin 15 mg·kg-1·d-1 intragastricly). At the end of the 8th week, the rats in three groups were sacrificed for taking the aortae. The level of blood glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride was measured and the expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein in the aorta was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. Results No significant difference was found in body weight, the level of blood glucose between AT group and DM group, but the levels of plasma cholesterol and triglyceride were significantly lower in AT group than those in DM group(P0.05). The expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein was much higher in aorta tissue of the diabetes than that in normal controls. Compared with DM group, the expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein in aorta tissue of diabetic rats in AT group decreased significantly. Conclusion In diabetic rats, increased expression of MCP-1 in the aorta could be corrected by treatment with atorvastatin. The results suggest that atorvastatin is implicated in the treatment of macrovascular complication by regulating the expression of inflammatory factor MCP-1 in the diabetes.