|
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Minerva Institute for Medical Research, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Internal Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
2 Minerva Institute for Medical Research, Helsinki, Finland
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: outi.saijonmaa{at}helsinki.fi.
Objective: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease. We investigated whether atorvastatin, a powerful agent for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease influences ACE production in endothelial cells. Methods and Results: Human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells were treated with VEGF (476pM) which induced ACE upregulation. Co-treatment with atorvastatin (0,1-10µM) dose dependently inhibited VEGF induced ACE upregulation. In the presence of mevalonate (100µM), atorvastatin failed to downregulate VEGF induced ACE production. Co-treatment of the cells with either farnesylpyrophosphate (FPP, 5µM) or geranylgeranylpyrophosphate (GGPP, 5µM) partially inhibited the suppressive effect of atorvastatin. Pretreatment of the cells with Rho associated protein kinase inhibitor, Y27632 (10µM), partially inhibited VEGF induced ACE upregulation. VEGF (476pM) caused PKC phosphorylation which was inhibited by co-treatment of the cells with atorvastatin. Conclusions: Atorvastatin inhibited VEGF induced ACE upregulation probably by inhibiting PKC phosphorylation. This effect was mediated via inhibition of the mevalonate pathway. ACE downregulation may be an additional beneficial effect of statins in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
C. Rodriguez, J. F. Alcudia, J. Martinez-Gonzalez, A. Guadall, B. Raposo, S. Sanchez-Gomez, and L. Badimon Statins normalize vascular lysyl oxidase down-regulation induced by proatherogenic risk factors Cardiovasc Res, August 1, 2009; 83(3): 595 - 603. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. Ramasubbu, J. Estep, D. L. White, A. Deswal, and D. L. Mann Experimental and clinical basis for the use of statins in patients with ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., January 29, 2008; 51(4): 415 - 426. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
O. Saijonmaa, T. Nyman, and F. Fyhrquist Atorvastatin inhibits angiotensin-converting enzyme induction in differentiating human macrophages Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, April 1, 2007; 292(4): H1917 - H1921. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. van der Harst, A. A. Voors, W. H. van Gilst, M. Bohm, and D. J. van Veldhuisen Statins in the treatment of chronic heart failure: Biological and clinical considerations Cardiovasc Res, August 1, 2006; 71(3): 443 - 454. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |