Atorvastatin Reduce Blood Vessel Restenosis After Injury in Rabbits

OBJECTIVE To study the intervention role of atorvastatin in restenosis after angioplasty of iliac artery in rabbits, investigate its relationship with metalloproteinases(MMPs) and protein kinase C(PKC). METHODS All 40 white ♂ rabbits of Japan were randomly divided into 5 groups(n=8): model group; atorvastatin group with different doses of high (2 mg·d^-1), medium (1 mg·d^-1) and low (0.5 mg·d^-1) (iliac artery secondary injury); sham operation group (femoral artery ligation). HE dyeing was carried out in the target blood vessel after one month. Image pathology was used to analyse the intima area, tunica media area, vascular lumen area, index of intima hyperplasia and luminal stenosis. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and PKC. RESULTS Iliac artery secondary injury could successfully bulid a restenosis model after angioplasty. Compared with model group, as the dosage increased, the atorvastatin groups had smaller intima area, tunica media area, index of intima hyperplasia and luminal stenosis, and there was a significant increase in the vascular lumen area(P<0.01), meanwhile, the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and PKC significantly reduced(P<0.01). CONCLUSION Atorvastatin can significantly reduce restenosis after rabbit angioplasty, the probable mechanism is through the way of PKC to inhibit the expression of MMPs in target blood vessels.