The Pretreatment Effect Of Atorvastatin And Losartan On Monocrotaline-induced Pulmonary Arterialhypertension In Rats

ObjectiveTo explore the pretreatment effect of atorvastatin and losartan on monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in rats MethodsThirty two Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups : normal control (Ctr group), untreated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH group ), pulmonary arterial hypertension pretreated with losartan (Los group, 50mg/kg/d losartan by intragastrically after monocrotaline injection), and the group of pulmonary arterial hypertension pretreated with atorvastatin (Ato group, 5mg/kg/d of atorvastatin intragastrically after monocrotaline injection). The pulmonary arterial hypertension was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg monocrotaline. After 4 weeks , Right Ventricular Systolic Pressure (RVSP) and Right Ventricular Hypertrophy Index (RVHI) were measured. WT% and WA% of pulmonary arterioles were evaluated by MOTICAM 1300 image analysis software.The pulmonary arteries from each group were collected and mRNA levels for Ca_v α 1c, SERCA-2a, IP₃R-1,RyR-3 mRNA in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMC) were determined by RT-PCR. Results1) RVSPs in Los group and Ato group were significantly decreased than that in untreated PAH group (P<0.001 respectively). In comparison with PAH group, RVHI in losartan and atorvastatin treated group were also obviously reduced (P<0.05 respectively). No significant difference was found between Los group and Ato group in RVSP and RVHI. 2) WT% and WA% of pulmonary arterioles were significantly reduced by the...