Arterial destiffening with atorvastatin in overweight and obese middle-aged and older adults

Abstract

We hypothesized that atorvastatin (ATOR) treatment would reduce arterial stiffness in overweight and obese middle-aged and older adults. Twenty-six (11 men and 15 women) overweight or obese (body mass index: 31.6±0.7 kg/m) middle-aged and older adults (age: 54±2 years) were randomly assigned to receive either ATOR (80 mg/d) or placebo for 12 weeks. Arterial stiffness (β-stiffness and pulse wave velocity) was measured before and after the intervention. At baseline, the ATOR (n=16) and placebo (n=10) groups did not differ with respect to age, body mass index, blood pressure, serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, indices of arterial stiffness, or compliance (all P>0.05). After the 12-week treatment period, the ATOR group experienced a 47% reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (149±6 to 80±8 mg/dL) and a 42% reduction in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (3.6±0.8 to 2.1±0.5 mg/L; both P<0.05). In addition, β-stiffness (9.4±0.6 to 7.6±0.5 U) and aortic pulse wave velocity (1096±36 to 932±32 cm/s), but not brachial pulse wave velocity, decreased (both P<0.05) with ATOR. In contrast, there were no significant changes in β-stiffness (9.1±0.8 to 9.1±0.7 U) or aortic pulse wave velocity (1238±89 to 1191±90 cm/s; both P>0.05) in the placebo group. There were no relations between the reductions in arterial stiffness indices and any of the baseline cardiometabolic risk factors (all P>0.05). However, the reductions in arterial stiffness were correlated with the reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol but not high-sensitivity C-reactive protein or any other cardiometabolic variables (all P<0.05). Taken together, these findings suggest that ATOR reduces arterial stiffness in overweight and obese middle-aged and older adults, and these favorable changes occur irrespective of baseline cardiometabolic risk factors. © 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.