Effect of simvastatin treatment on pulmonary hypertension and endothelial progenitor cells in rat / 重庆医学

ABSTRACT

Objective The present study was designed to investigate the efficiency of simvastatin therapy for experimental pul‐monary hypertension (PH) in rat ,and the effects on the number and function of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) . Methods Twenty four Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups randomlymodel group ,treatment group and control group , 8 rats in each group .Rats were treated with a single subcutaneous injection of monocrotaline to induce PH (PBS used as control) . The rats in the experimental group were administrated with simvastatin 3 days following subcutaneous injection of monocrotaline .In the 21st day ,the number of circulating EPC ,the right ventricle systolic pressure of rat ,pulmonary vascular structural changes and the quantity of cultured EPC were measured .At the same time ,EPC in each group were cultured in vitro ,then the ability of prolif‐eration and function were analyzed and compared .Results The number of circulating EPC in model group was decreased signifi‐cantly compared to both control and model groups (P< 0 .01) .Compared with model group ,simvastatin treatment markedly de‐creased the RVSP and the ratio of media thickness to eternal diameter (P<0 .01) ,but the ratio of vessel area to total arterial area (VA/TAA) was definitively increased(P<0 .01) .After 7 days of culture in vitro ,both the output of EPC and the ability of prolif‐eration ,conglutination and migration of EPC in treatment group were up -regulated compared with those in model group (P<0 .01) .Conclusion This study confirmed that simvastatin effectively treat experimental PH through improving quantity and func‐tion of circulating EPC .