Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Sep 10;106(11):1390-6.
doi: 10.1161/01.cir.0000028465.52694.9b.

Lipid lowering reduces oxidative stress and endothelial cell activation in rabbit atheroma

Masanori Aikawa  1 , Seigo Sugiyama, Christopher C Hill, Sami J Voglic, Elena Rabkin, Yoshihiro Fukumoto, Frederick J Schoen, Joseph L Witztum, Peter Libby
Affiliations

Lipid lowering reduces oxidative stress and endothelial cell activation in rabbit atheroma

Masanori Aikawa et al. Circulation. .

Abstract

Background: Lipid lowering may reduce acute coronary events in patients in part by reducing vascular inflammation. Oxidative stress induces endothelial cell (EC) expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and reduces levels of atheroprotective NO, leading to monocyte recruitment and macrophage accumulation. This study tested the hypothesis that lipid lowering decreases oxidative stress and improves EC functions related to inflammatory cell accumulation.

Methods and results: Rabbits consumed an atherogenic diet for 4 months to produce atheroma, followed by a purified chow diet for 16 months. Atherosclerotic aortas from hypercholesterolemic rabbits produced high levels of reactive oxygen species. Oxidized LDL (oxLDL) accumulated in atheroma underlying ECs that overexpress VCAM-1. In contrast, few if any ECs in atheroma stained for endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). Lipid lowering reduced reactive oxygen species production, oxLDL accumulation, and plasma levels of anti-oxLDL IgG. After lipid lowering, VCAM-1 and MCP-1 expression decreased, eNOS expression increased, and ECs exhibited a more normal ultrastructure.

Conclusions: These results establish that lipid lowering can reduce oxidative stress and EC activation in vivo. These mechanisms may contribute to improvement in endothelial function and plaque stabilization observed clinically.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources