Key result
A single 80 mg dose of atorvastatin significantly increased baseline forearm blood flow from 3.38 to 4.31 ml/min/100 ml tissue (p < 0.05) in hypertensive men.
Why the study?
Does a single dose of 80 mg oral atorvastatin acutely improve vascular function in hypertensive men?
Does a single dose of 80 mg oral atorvastatin acutely improve vascular function in hypertensive men?
Absolute Event Rate: 4.31% vs 3.38%
p-value: p=< 0.05
A single high dose of atorvastatin acutely improves endothelium-independent vasodilation and inhibits angiotensin II-induced vasoconstriction in hypertensive men, suggesting rapid pleiotropic vascular benefits.
Should not change practice; hypothesis-generating for acute pleiotropic effects, needing RCT confirmation.
OBJECTIVES: Statins have multiple pleiotropic effects that are independent of their cholesterol-lowering properties including rapid improvement of endothelial function in vitro. Hypertension is characterized by endothelial dysfunction and we hypothesized that a single-dose of atorvastatin may have an acute effect on vascular function. DESIGN: Endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDV) and endothelium-independent vasodilation were assessed with venous occlusion plethysmography during intra-arterial infusion of acetylcholine (ACH) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), respectively, in 13 hypertensive men after wash-out from antihypertensive medication. Vasoconstrictive responses were evaluated in response to angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion. The protocol was repeated 1 h after 80 mg oral atorvastatin (ATV; Lipitor(®)). RESULTS: ATV treatment significantly increased baseline forearm blood flow from 3.38 (0.27) to 4.31 (0.35) ml/min/100 ml tissue (p < 0.05). ATV did not affect ACH-induced EDV. Forearm vascular resistance in response to SNP was significantly lowered by ATV (p < 0.05). Vasoconstriction in response to Ang II was significantly inhibited by ATV treatment (p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The observed acute statin effects in hypertension appear to be endothelium-independent and related to vascular smooth muscle cell function. These actions may in part contribute to the beneficial pleiotropic effects of statin therapy even in the acute in vivo setting.
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Saluveer et al. (2013) studied Hypertension (n=13). Atorvastatin vs. Baseline (pre-treatment) was evaluated on Baseline forearm blood flow (ml/min/100 ml tissue) (p=< 0.05). A single 80 mg dose of atorvastatin significantly increased baseline forearm blood flow from 3.38 to 4.31 ml/min/100 ml tissue (p < 0.05) in hypertensive men.
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