Influence of atorvastatin on serum tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in patients of acute ischemic stroke with normal lipidemia

Objective To observe the influence of atorvastatin on serum tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and interleukin-6(IL-6) in patients of acute ischemic stroke with normal lipidemia.Methods Sixty-two cases of patients of acute ischemic stroke with normal lipidemia were randomly divided into the treatment group(n=31) and the control group(n=31).The patients of control group were treated with routine therapy only,whereas the patients of treatment group were treated with atorvastatin 20 mg once daily based on routine therapy for 12 weeks.Serum total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),lower density lipid-cholesterol(LDL-C),high density lipid-cholesterol(HDL-C),TNF-α and IL-6 levels were measured and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS) was evaluated before and after treatment.Results After treatment,the serum levels of TC,TG,LDL-C,TNF-α and IL-6,NIHSS in treatment group were significantly lower than those in control group,TC(4.21±0.88) mmol/L vs(4.69±0.93) mmol/L,TG(1.12±0.46) mmol/L vs(1.26±0.42) mmol/L,LDL-C(2.23±0.55) mmol/L vs(2.82±0.59) mmol/L,NIHSS(10.56±3.61) marks vs(15.35±3.92) marks,TNF-α(9.95±3.68) μg/L vs(15.42±3.79) μg/L,IL-6(10.34±2.81) μg/L vs(14.27±3.12) μg/L.However,the serum level of HDL-C in treatment group was significantly higher than that in control group,(1.29±0.38)mmol/L vs(1.11±0.34) mmol/L(P0.05).Conclusion Atorvastatin proves significant effect in neurological function improvement of patients with acute ischemic stroke in normal lipidemia.Its mechanism may be related with reducing the production of TNF-α and IL-6 and inhibiting inflammatory reaction.