Rosuvastatin acts rapidly in acute coronary syndrome

Last Updated: 2007-01-30 16:25:26 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor rosuvastatin exerts rapid immunomodulatory effects on the level of T-cell activation in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), according to German researchers.

Dr. Andreas Link of Universitatsklinikum des Saarlandes, Homburg and colleagues note in the December issue of the European Heart Journal that it is unclear how quickly the beneficial effects of statins occur in patients with ACS and whether these drug properties are related to lipid lowering.

To investigate further, the researchers randomized 35 patients with troponin-positive ACS to rosuvastatin 20 mg/day or to placebo.

Compared to placebo, at 72 hours, rosuvastatin treatment significantly reduced plasma concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma.

It also induced a rapid and significant reduction in these cytokines in stimulated T-lymphocytes and inhibited the Th-1 immune response.

The investigators note that the magnitude of these anti-inflammatory actions did not increase appreciably over the 6-week observation period. They conclude that statins inhibit the activity of the Th-1 response independently of the present plasma lipid levels.

Co-author of an accompanying editorial, Dr. Kazunori Shimada of Jutendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo pointed out in remarks to Reuters Health that "acute coronary syndrome is an immune disease and rosuvastatin is an immunomodulatory agent."

These results, he concluded, "extend our knowledge of the clinical use of statins in patients with acute coronary syndrome."

Eur Heart J 2006;27:2945-2955.