RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Atorvastatin has a cardiovascular protective effect that significantly improves endothelial function and promotes the mobilization,migration,and differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells.However,the screening of atorvastatin concentration for in vitro cell culture is not well documented. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of different concentrations of atorvastatin on rat bone marrow-derived EPCs growth characteristics. METHODS: Bone marrow mononuclear cells from Sprague-Dawley rats were induced in selective culture fluid to culture EPCs. Immunofluorescence staining was used to identify cell surface markers. Harvested EPCs were divided into control group and atorvastatin groups with four different concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 μmol/L) for culture. The growth and proliferation of EPCs were observed under light microscope and MTT assay. Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis in EPCs. Nitric oxide and endothelial nitric oxide synthase levels in the culture fluid were measured by nitrate reductase method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The number of cells tended to increase in the control and atorvastatin groups, and it was highest in the 1 μmol/L atorvastatin group. The cell number in the 10 μmol/L atorvastatin group began to decrease at 7 days of culture. Among the five groups, the apoptotic rate of cells was lowest in the 1 μmol/L atorvastatin group and highest in the 10 μmol/L atorvastatin group. The levels of nitric oxide and endothelial nitric oxide synthase were significantly higher in the 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 μmol/L atorvastatin groups compared with the control group (P < 0.01), but lower in the 10 μmol/L atorvastatin group compare with the other groups (P < 0.01). Overall, atorvastatin can promote the proliferation of endothelial progenitor cells and reduce apoptosis by increasing the production of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide, and 1 μmol/L atorvastatin is most suitable for the EPCs culture.