A Novel, Orally Bioavailable, Small-Molecule Inhibitor of PCSK9 With Significant Cholesterol-Lowering Properties In Vivo

Proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibits the clearance of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (LDL-C) from plasma by directly binding with the LDL receptor (LDLR) and sending the receptor for lysosomal degradation. As the interaction promotes elevated plasma LDL-C levels, and therefore a predisposition to...

Resolvin E1 attenuates atherosclerosis in absence of cholesterol-lowering effects and on top of atorvastatin

Background and aims Besides LDL-cholesterol, local vascular inflammation plays a key role in atherogenesis. Efficient therapies to treat the inflammatory component of the disease have not been established. The discovery of specialized inflammation-resolving mediators, such as resolvins may provide new opportunities for treatment. This study...

No effects of atorvastatin (10 mg/d or 80 mg/d) on nitric oxide, prostacyclin, thromboxane and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients of the DALI study

The present study describes the effects of atorvastatin on whole body synthesis of nitric oxide (NO), prostacyclin (PGI2), and thromboxane A2 (TxA2), on oxidative stress and nitrite/nitrate-related renal carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled parallel...

Predicting individual responses to pravastatin using a physiologically based kinetic model for plasma cholesterol concentrations

We used a previously developed physiologically based kinetic (PBK) model to analyze the effect of individual variations in metabolism and transport of cholesterol on pravastatin response. The PBK model is based on kinetic expressions for 21 reactions that interconnect eight different body cholesterol pools including plasma HDL and non-HDL...

Resveratrol protects against atherosclerosis, but does not add to the antiatherogenic effect of atorvastatin, in APOE * 3-Leiden.CETP mice

Resveratrol is a major constituent of traditional Asian medicinal herbs and red wine and is suggested to be a potential antiatherosclerotic drug due to its proposed hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether resveratrol protects against atherosclerosis development in APOE*. 3...

Anti-inflammatory salicylate beneficially modulates pre-existing atherosclerosis through quenching of NF-κB activity and lowering of cholesterol

Objective: Inflammation plays an important role in all stages of atherosclerosis, but little is known about the therapeutic effects of quenching inflammation in already existing atherosclerotic lesions. Putative beneficial effects of salicylate, an inhibitor of NF-κB activation, were studied in mice with established lesions. Methods: ApoE*3...

Atorvastatin increases HDL cholesterol by reducing CETP expression in cholesterol-fed APOE*3-Leiden.CETP mice

Objective: In addition to lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, statins modestly increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol in humans and decrease cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mass and activity. Our aim was to determine whether the increase in HDL depends on CETP expression. Methods and results: APOE*3-Leiden ...

Mouse models for atherosclerosis and pharmaceutical modifiers

Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial highly-complex disease with numerous etiologies that work synergistically to promote lesion development. The ability to develop preventive and ameliorative treatments will depend on animal models that mimic the human subject metabolically and pathophysiologically and will develop lesions comparable to those in...

Anti-atherosclerotic effect of amlodipine, alone and in combination with atorvastatin, in APOE*3-Leiden/hCRP transgenic mice

We investigated the pleiotropic effects of a calcium antagonist (amlodipine) on early atherosclerosis development in the presence and absence of an HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitor (atorvastatin) in apolipoprotein E*3-Leiden/human C-reactive protein (E3L/CRP) transgenic mice. Male E3L/CRP transgenic mice were fed a cholesterol-containing diet either...

Rosuvastatin reduces plasma lipids by inhibiting VLDL production and enhancing hepatobiliary lipid excretion in ApoE*3-Leiden mice

The present study was designed to investigate the lipid-lowering properties and mechanisms of action of a new HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, rosuvastatin, in female ApoE*3-Leiden transgenic mice. Mice received a high fat/cholesterol (HFC) diet containing either rosuvastatin (O [control], 0.00125%, 0.0025%, or 0.005% [w/w]) or 0.05% (w/w)...

Cardiovascular disease and mortality in statin-treated patients with familial hypercholesterolemia

Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) are at an increased risk of premature cardiovascular disease (CVD). The benefits of statin therapy are not well known since no placebo controlled studies have been performed in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the CVD event and mortality risk in statin-treated patients with...

Differential effects of amlodipine and atorvastatin treatment and their combination on atherosclerosis in ApoE*3-Leiden transgenic mice

This study was designed to investigate the potential antiatherosclerotic effects of the calcium antagonist amlodipine as compared with the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor atorvastatin and the combination of both in ApoE*3-Leiden transgenic mice. Four groups of 15 ApoE*3-Leiden mice were put on a high-cholesterol diet. One group received 0.002% (wt...

Rosuvastatin reduces atherosclerosis development beyond and independent of its plasma cholesterol-lowering effect in APOE*3-Leiden transgenic mice: Evidence for antiinflammatory effects of rosuvastatin

Background - Statins can exert anti-inflammatory antiatherosclerotic effects through an anti-inflammatory action, independent of lowering cholesterol. We addressed the question whether the anti-inflammatory activities of statins can reduce atherosclerosis beyond the reduction achieved by cholesterol lowering per se. Methods and Results - Two...