Effects Of Atorvastatin On The Wnt Signal Pathway In Atherosclerosis Model Rabbits

ObjectiveTo study the effects of atorvastatin on Wnt1, β-catenin and dvl-1inWnt/β-catenin signal pathway in atherosclerosis rabbit, and to explore thepossible mechanisms of anti-AS.MethodsHealthy Japanese white rabbits24, adaptive feeding week later, wererandomly divided into three groups of eight. Normal group was fed with normaldiets; Atherosclerotic model group was fed high cholesterol diets (normal dietplus1%cholesterol,7.5%egg yolk powder and8%of lard). Atorvastatin groupfed the same atherosclerotic model group was outside the Atorvastatin2.5mg/d·kg. Continuous feeding for12weeks, with the first12weeks in the earvein blood was determined by automatic biochemistry analyzer lipid levels, theanimals were killed to observe the aortic pathology morphology on the lightmicroscope.The expression of Wnt1, β-catenin and dvl-1in aortic plaques wasdetected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot method.Results(1) Observation of pathological morphology：observation by naked eye, thenormal control group, aortic smooth surface, pinkwhite, non-lipid plaqueformation; the atherosclerotic group, aorta rough, thick, stained orange-redpatches significantly to the bureaucratic protruding, some processes andblended them into pieces; the atorvastatin group, the intima was thick partly, prominent plaque was not obvious; Through the mirror under observation, thenormal control group, aortic layered clear, endometrial integrity, smooth musclecells Traveling well, endothelium-free foam cell deposition; the atheroscleroticgroup, the intima was thicker significantly and irregular foam cells wereaggregation, a large number of lipid could be seen at elastic plates and cell gap,smooth muscle cells arranged irregularly; the atorvastatin group, the intima wasthick partly, foam cells were less, lipid was deposition rarely, smooth musclecells were still arranged neatly.(2) Influence on blood： compared with the normal control group,atherosclerotic group and atorvastatin group TC、TG、LDL-C levels weresignificantly increased (P<0.01); compared with atherosclerosis group, theatorvastatin group of TC、TG、LDL-C were significantly lower (P<0.01).(3) Intima and intima/media thickness：compared with the normal controlgroup, atherosclerotic group and atorvastatin group aortic Intima andintima-media thickness were significantly higher (P<0.01); compared withatherosclerotic group, the atorvastatin group of aortic Intima and intima-mediathickness decreased significantly (P<0.01).(4) Effect on Wnt1、β-catenin and dvl-1：Immunohistochemical method:compared with the normal control group, atherosclerotic group and atorvastatingroup Wnt1、β-catenin and dvl-1significantly reduced gray values (P<0.01);compared with atherosclerosis group, the atorvastatin group Wnt1、β-cateninand dvl-1were significantly higher gray values (P<0.01). Western blot method:compared with the normal control group, atherosclerotic group and atorvastatingroup Wnt1、β-catenin and dvl-1protein expression were significantly higher(P<0.01); compared with atherosclerosis group, the atorvastatin group Wnt1、β-catenin and dvl-1protein expression were significantly lower (P<0.01).Conclusions（1）Atorvastatin can regulate blood lipids, and make the rabbit aortic intimal thickness and intimal-medial thickness ratio significantly reducedthereby preventing the formation of atherosclerosis.（2）Atorvastatin may relieve the degree of atherosclerosis by inhibiting theexpression of Wnt1, β-catenin and dvl-1in Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway.