Atorvastatin on Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Patients / 中华高血压杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of atorvastatin on circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and BP in hypertensive patients with normal lipid profiles.Methods Thirty-eight hypertensive patients were randomly to receive conventional anti-hypertensive drugs (n=18) or conventional anti-hypertensive drugs plus atorvastatin(20 mg QN)combination treatment (n=20).Eight healthy subjects were given atorvastatin (20 mg QN) for 8 weeks as control group.Before and after treatment,peripheral blood were drawn to isolate and culture EPCs.The circulating EPCs were identified by direct fluorescent staining under a laser scanning confocal micro- scope.EPCs populations were assessed using the colony forming unit assay (EPC-CFU) through a inverted phase contrast microscope 10 days after culture.Results After treatment,SBP was decreased (conventional treatment from 165.8?10.3 to 132.7?10.3 mmHg;combined group from 163.7?10.2 to 127.9?10.1 mmHg P