Study of Regressive Effect of Atorvastatin on Atherosclerosis in Atherosclerotic Rabbits and Anti-atherosclerosis Mechanism

Objective To examine regressive effects of atorvastatin in rabbits fed with cholesterol-enriched diet and mechanism of anti-atherosclerosis.Methods Twenty four rabbits were randomly divided into control,cholesterol diet,and atorvastatin groups,which were fed for 16 weeks.Serum TC、TG、LDL and weight were measured in 0 and 16 weeks in the three groups.After 16 weeks,the aorta was harvested for pathologic morphology observation,immunohistochemistry analysis of VCAM-1 positive percentage was performed.Results After 16 weeks TC and LDL in atorvastatn group were greatly lower than those in cholesterol diet group(P0.01),they were(23.51±10.58) mmol/L and(14.27±3.51) mmol/L(P0.01),(21.39±10.00) mmol/L and(14.23±4.01) mmol/L(P0.01).The aorta plaque/intima size(P/I)was 0,(28.12±3.77)% and(16.09±2.77)% in control,cholesterol diet group and atorvastatn group by pathologic morphology observation(P0.01),intima thickness was(4.45±0.58) μm,(67.47±7.13) μm and(38.11±6.02) μm,intima/medium thickness ratio(I/M) was 0.0537±0.007,0.878±0.370 and 0.391±0.213 in the three groups(P0.01).The expressions of immunohistochemistry analysis of VCAM-1 in cholesterol diet and atorvastatin group were higher than those in control(P0.01),but the expression reduced in atorvastatin group(P0.01).Conclusion Atorvastatin has anti-atherosclerosis effect except reducing serum lipids,the inhibition of VCAM-1 excessive expression may be one of anti-atherosclerosis mechanisms.