Effects of amlodipine combined with atorvastatin on Th17/Treg imbalance and vascular microcirculation in hypertensive patients with atherosclerosis: A double-blind, single-center randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: Helper T cells 17 (Th17) and regulatory T cells (Treg), as CD4+T lymphocyte subsets, play an important role in the process of atherosclerosis. However, there are few studies on the regulation and efficacy of atorvastatin combined with amlodipine on Th17/Treg balance in hypertension combined with carotid atherosclerosis. Therefore, this study aims to verify the efficacy and immunomodulatory effects of atorvastatin combined with amlodipine in the treatment of hypertension combined with carotid atherosclerosis. Methods: A total of 260 patients with hypertension and carotid atherosclerosis were randomly divided into atorvastatin or combined treatment group. Inflammatory factors and Th17 and Treg levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry. The messenger ribonucleic acid expression of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma and forkhead spiral transcription factor were detected by real-time quantitative polymerse chain reaction. Results: We found that the total effective rate in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group. The levels of whole blood high shear viscosity, whole blood low shear viscosity, plasma specific viscosity and fibrin content in the 2 groups were significantly decreased after treatment, and the combined group was significantly lower than the control group (all P