Simvastatin treatment reduces heat shock protein 60, 65, and 70 antibody titers in dyslipidemic patients: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of statin therapy on serum levels of antibodies to several specific heat shock proteins (HSPs) in dyslipidemic patients. DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants (n=102) were treated with simvastatin (40mg/day), or placebo in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Anti-HSP60, 65, 70, and hs-CRP levels were measured before and after each treatment period. Seventy-seven subjects completed the study. RESULTS: Treatment with simvastatin was associated with significant reductions in serum anti-HSP60, 65, and 70 titers in the dyslipidemic patients (10%, 14%, and 15% decrease, respectively) (p<0.001). There have been previous reports of reductions in serum CRP with statin treatment, and although median CRP levels were 9% lower on simvastatin treatment, this did not achieve statistical significance. CONCLUSION: While it is unclear whether HSP antibodies are directly involved in atherogenesis, our findings suggest that simvastatin inhibits autoimmune responses that may contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease.

Changes in pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance after bare metal and drug eluting stent implantation in patients with stable coronary disease.

OBJECTIVES: In this study we aimed to assess the changes in pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) after the placement of either a drug-eluting-stent (DES) or bare-metal-stent (BMS) in patients with stable coronary artery disease. DESIGN AND METHODS: Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) with either BMS or DES were undertaken for 152 patients (82 in the BMS and 70 in the DES groups respectively). PAB values were measured 24h before and after PCI. RESULTS: Baseline PAB values were 80.68 (64.98-99.37) and 98.86 (64.70-140.62) for BMS and DES group, respectively, which were not significantly different between the 2 groups (P>0.05). Following PCI, median PAB values decreased to 72.10 (61.40-96.13) and 81.40 (54.15-121.90) in BMS and DES groups, respectively. The reduction was significant in both BMS and DES groups (P<0.05). The changes in PAB values were -2.81 (-12.76 to 2.31) for BMS and -2.82 (-29.88 to 8.93) for DES group, which were not significantly different between the 2 groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: We found that the reported difference in clinical outcomes following DES or BMS implantation cannot be attributed to differences in early changes in oxidative stress induction as assessed by changes in PAB values.