Effect of different doses of atorvastatin on serum lipid and inflammatory factor hs-CRP in patients with coronary artery disease

AIM To investigate the effects of different doses of atorvastatin on serum levels of the blood lipid and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in Chinese patients with coronary artery disease and to study the relationship between hs-CRP and blood lipid. METHODS One hundred and twenty-eight consecutive patients with coronary artery disease were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in group A were given oral atorvastatin 10 mg once daily and patients in group B were given oral atorvastatin 20 mg once daily. The serum levels of blood lipid and hs-CRP were measured with biochemistry assay 24 hours after admission and 1 month after therapy. The difference in blood lipid and hs-CRP was compared between the two groups and subset groups. RESULTS The serum levels of total cholesterol,lower density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),ApoB and hs-CRP in the patients of the two groups after taking atorvastatin for a month were significantly lower than those before therapy (P0.01). The changes of blood lipid and hs-CRP were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION No significant therapeutic difference has been found in atorvastatin at doses of 10 mg/d or 20 mg/d. After one-month therapy with atorvastatin of 10 mg/d or 20 mg/d,the serum levers of blood lipid,including total cholesterol,LDL-C,ApoB and hs-CRP are significantly decreased compared with those before therapy in patients of coronary artery disease. The anti-inflammatory effect of atorvastatin is not related to lipid lowering.