Redemptive benefit of atorvastatin in the risk factors of coronary artery disease

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease, in particular coronary artery disease (CAD), is the principal cause of mortality in developed countries. The classical acute phase protein, C-reactive protein (CRP) is an exquisitely sensitive systemic marker of disease with broad clinical utility for monitoring and differential diagnosis. In recent years, acute phase reactants have been shown to predict future cardiovascular events in individuals with and without established CAD. Atorvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, substantially reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and recently their anti-inflammatory properties have been investigated. The present study was therefore designed to determine the effects of atorvastatin on CRP in patients with CAD. Ninety two patients with or without or at the risk of CAD were recruited for the study, of which 35 belongs to control (untreated) and 57 were test group, in which, 30 of them received daily with 20 mg/day of atorvastatin and the remaining 27 were untreated. The patients were followed for over a period of 6 weeks. For entire study population, CRP along with lipid profile, SGOT, SGPT, urea and creatinine were measured 1st day and at the end of 6th week of the treatment. For patients with or at risk of CAD, the reduced rate of progression of atherosclerosis associated with intensive atorvastatin treatment, as compared with control is significantly related to greater reduction in the levels of both atherogenic lipoproteins and CRP. This may be important with respect to the early benefits of atorvastatin therapy