Open AccessRapid Stabilization of Vulnerable Carotid Plaque Within 1 Month of Pitavastatin Treatment in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome
Author(s) -
Takamitsu Nakamura,
Jun–ei Obata,
Yoshinobu Kitta,
Hajime Takano,
Tsuyoshi Kobayashi,
Daisuke Fujioka,
Yukio Saitō,
Yasushi Kodama,
Ken−ichi Kawabata,
Akira Mende,
Toshiaki Yano,
Minoru Hirano,
Keita Sano,
Kazuto Nakamura,
Kiyotaka Kugiyama
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of cardiovascular pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1533-4023
pISSN - 0160-2446
DOI - 10.1097/fjc.0b013e318165dcad
Subject(s) - pitavastatin , medicine , placebo , acute coronary syndrome , cardiology , statin , pathology , myocardial infarction , alternative medicine
We determined time course of stabilization of echolucent carotid plaques by statin therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Treatment with 4 mg/d pitavastatin (n = 33) or placebo (n = 32) was initiated within 3 days after onset of ACS in 65 patients with echolucent carotid plaque. Vulnerable carotid plaques were assessed by measuring plaque echolucency using carotid ultrasound with integrated backscatter (IBS) analysis before and 1 month after treatment in all patients. The calibrated IBS value (intima-media IBS value minus adventia IBS) of vulnerable carotid plaques favorably changed at 1 month after treatment in both groups, but the echolucency at 1 month improved more in the pitavastatin than in the placebo group (pitavastatin group: -18.7 +/- 3.3 dB at pretreatment versus -12.7 +/- 2.3 dB at 1 month *P < 0.001; placebo: -19.0 +/- 3.5 dB versus -16.9 +/- 3.2 dB, P < 0.05, *P < 0.01 versus the value at 1 month in placebo group). Levels of CRP, VEGF, and TNFalpha at 1 month were significantly lower in pitavastatin than placebo group. In conclusion, pitavastatin improved carotid plaque echolucency within 1 month of therapy in patients with ACS, in association with decrease in the inflammatory biomarkers related to vulnerable plaques.