Rosuvastatin attenuates bioprosthetic heart valve calcification

OBJECTIVE: There are pathophysiologic similarities between calcification and atherosclerosis because both are the product of an active inflammatory process. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of statin treatment on calcification in commercially available bioprosthetic heart valves. METHODS: Twenty Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet to induce hypercholesterolemia during 4 weeks. They were randomly divided into 2 groups according to statin intake (control, n = 10: high-fat diet/statin; n = 10: high-fat diet with statin). Four commercially available tissue valve (Magna Perimount, Carpentier-Edwards, Irvine, Calif; Hancock, Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minn; Mitroflow, LivaNova, London, England; and Trifecta, St Jude Medical, St Paul, Minn) cusp samples (total 320) were implanted in rat dorsal subcutis at 4 weeks. After implantation, rosuvastatin was administered daily to the statin group. The cusps were explanted at 12 weeks, and calcium levels were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Western blotting, histologic, and immunohistochemical analyses were conducted to identify the anticalcification mechanism of the statin. RESULTS: The mean calcium level in the control group was significantly higher than in the statin group (P < .01) for all tissue valves (Magna Perimount: 2.67 ± 0.26 mg/g vs 1.31 ± 0.40 mg/g; Hancock: 2.70 ± 0.57 mg/g vs 1.53 ± 0.34 mg/g; Mitroflow: 2.39 ± 0.71 mg/g vs 1.26 ± 0.38 mg/g; Trifecta: 2.54 ± 0.42 mg/g vs 1.63 ± 0.72 mg/g). Inflammatory cell infiltration and interleukin-6 and bone morphogenetic protein 2 expressions were significantly reduced in the statin group. CONCLUSIONS: Statin treatment significantly attenuated bioprosthetic heart valve calcification associated with decreasing the levels of interleukin-6 and bone morphogenetic protein 2. Thus, statin treatment might be helpful for the longevity of bioprosthetic heart valves.