Abstract
BackgroundGamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is now considered to be one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, whether statins can alter GGT levels in arterial atheromatous plaque has not yet been studied. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine whether statins can effectively decrease the expression of GGT in arterial atheromatous plaques.MethodsWe randomly divided 45 apolipoprotein E–knockout (ApoE KO) male mice into three groups: normal diet (ND) group,high-cholesterol diet (HCD) group and high-cholesterol diet and atorvastatin (HCD + Ato) group. We fed high-cholesterol food to the HCD and HCD + Ato group. After eight weeks, atorvastatin 5 mg•kg−1•d−1 was given to HCD + Ato group mice. The serum GGT-1, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell-adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) levels were measured at end of 16 weeks by using ELISA methods. The expressions of GGT-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in aorta were measured by RT-PCR and Western Blot.ResultsThe ApoE KO mice with HCD were associated with a marked increase in plasma lipid, inflammatory factors, GGT-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. The expressions of GGT-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in HCD aortic tissue were increased. At the HCD + Ato group were treated with atorvastatin, the levels of lipid, GGT-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1were suppressed. Meanwhile, the expressions of GGT-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 were significantly decreased in the whole aorta plaques.ConclusionsThe effect of statins on the expression of GGT in aorta plaque was firstly observed in animal model. The research shows that statins can significantly decrease the expression of GGT in aortic atherosclerotic plaques.
Highlights
Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is considered to be one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease
After 8 weeks, the mice in the HCD group were further randomly divided into two groups: 15 mice remained on a high cholesterol diet alone (HCD group) and 15 mice were treated with atorvastatin (HCD and Ato group)
Atorvastatin reduced blood lipid, hs-C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 There were no significant differences in plasma lipid, hsCRP and IL-6 levels among the three groups at baseline
Summary
Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is considered to be one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study is to determine whether statins can effectively decrease the expression of GGT in arterial atheromatous plaques. The occurrence of cardiovascular events in clinical practice cannot be prevented This is despite being able to control LDL levels, the main risk factor. Research has shown that when the LDL levels are decreased to 2–3 mmol/L after intensive treatment with statins, the risk of cardiovascular events is decreased by 40%–50% [8]. This means that a considerable risk has not been effectively controlled. The non-lipid associated risk is considered to mainly be influenced by the levels of uric acid, fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP) and homocysteine [9]
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