Rosuvastatin reduces atherosclerosis development beyond and independent of its plasma cholesterol-lowering effect in APOE*3-Leiden transgenic mice: Evidence for antiinflammatory effects of rosuvastatin

Abstract

Background - Statins can exert anti-inflammatory antiatherosclerotic effects through an anti-inflammatory action, independent of lowering cholesterol. We addressed the question whether the anti-inflammatory activities of statins can reduce atherosclerosis beyond the reduction achieved by cholesterol lowering per se. Methods and Results - Two groups of 20 female APOE*3-Leiden mice received either a high-cholesterol diet (HC) or a high-cholesterol diet supplemented with 0.005% (wt/wt) rosuvastatin (HC+R). The HC diet alone resulted in a plasma cholesterol concentration of 18.9±1.4 mmol/L, and administration of rosuvastatin lowered plasma cholesterol to 14.1±0.7 mmol/L. In a separate low-cholesterol (LC) control group, the dietary cholesterol intake was reduced, which resulted in plasma cholesterol levels that were comparable to the HC+R group (13.4±0.8 mmol/L). Atherosclerosis in the aortic root area was quantified after 24 weeks. As compared with the HC group, the LC group had a 62% (P<0.001) reduction in cross-sectional lesion area. When compared with the LC group, the HC+R group showed a further decrease in cross-sectional lesion area (80%, P<0.001), size of individual lesions (63%, P<0.05), lesion number (58%, P<0.001), monocyte adherence (24%, P<0.05), and macrophage-containing area (60%, P<0.001). Furthermore, rosuvastatin specifically suppressed the expression of the inflammation parameters MCP-1 and TNF-α in the vessel wall and lowered plasma concentrations of serum amyloid A and fibrinogen, independent of its cholesterol-lowering effect. Conclusions - Rosuvastatin reduces atherosclerosis beyond and independent of the reduction achieved by cholesterol lowering alone. This additional beneficial effect of rosuvastatin may be explained, at least partly, by its antiinflammatory activity.