Angiotensin II (ANG II), a product of renin-angiotensin system activation, enhances collagen synthesis, which is a key event in cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction. Inhibition of cardiac remodeling is now a target of multiple therapies, including 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, commonly known as statins, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma...

BACKGROUND Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) levels are associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy individuals and in patients who have had ischemic events. METHODS AND RESULTS The Long-term Intervention with Pravastatin in Ischemic Disease (LIPID) study randomized 9014 patients with cholesterol levels of 4.0 to 7.0 mmol/L to placebo or pravastatin 3 to 36 months ...

This study analyzed the cost-effectiveness of pravastatin in secondary prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD). The projected risk model in 445 male patients with established CAD and moderately elevated serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol used results data from 2 placebo-controlled plaque regression trials: Pravastatin Limitation of Atherosclerosis in the Coronary Arteries and Pravast...

Statin treatment improves insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Thus this study assessed whether statin may affect the myocardial expression levels of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, receptors of adiponectin that enhance insulin sensitivity, and whether statin may improve insulin resistance in cardiomyocytes. Myocardial infarction (MI) was created by the ligation of the left coronary artery in male mice....

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Although the definite cause of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is unknown, peripheral circulatory failure, lipid metabolism disturbance, and increased oxidative stress are considered to be possible causes. We investigated whether pravastatin as a statin treatment reduces (1) the incidence of ONFH, (2) the adipocyte area, and (3) bone marrow change...

BACKGROUND Therapeutic decisions regarding pharmacological therapy should be based on safety and tolerability as well as efficacy data. Clinical trials designed to assess efficacy are often insufficiently powered to generate reliable safety data. METHODS AND RESULTS The West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), the Cholesterol and Recurrent Events (CARE), and Long-term Interventio...

Pravastatin, irbesartan and captopril are frequently used in the treatment of patients with Type 2 diabetes. These drugs also exert beneficial metabolic effects, causing an improved glucose tolerance in patients, but the precise mechanisms by which this is achieved remain elusive. To this end, we have studied whether these drugs influence insulin secretion in vivo through effects on islet blood...

Background—The role of lipid modification in stroke prevention is controversial, although increasing evidence suggests that HMG-CoA reductase inhibition may reduce cerebrovascular events in patients with prevalent coronary artery disease. Methods and Results—To test the hypothesis that cholesterol reduction with pravastatin may reduce stroke incidence after myocardial infarction, we followed 41...

Systemically administered pravastatin effectively treats diabetic retinopathy without central nervous system side effects. The efflux transport mechanism of pravastatin from the brain has already been clarified. In this study, the influx of pravastatin across the bloodretinal and blood-brain barriers (BRB and BBB) and the efflux of pravastatin from the retina were investigated using rats. Prava...

This thesis is based on the following original publications, which are referred to in the text by Roman numerals. pharmacodynamics of pravastatin in children with familial hypercholesterolemia. Efficacy and safety of pravastatin in children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: a prospective clinical follow-up study. noncholesterol sterols in children with familial hy...