Anti-inflammatory effect of statin is continuously working throughout use: a prospective three time point 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging study

AbstractNo data exist whether statins have robust anti-inflammatory effects of atherosclerotic plaques primarily during the early treatment period or continuously throughout use. This prospective three time point18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) study of the carotid artery assessed anti-inflammatory effects of statin during the early treatment period (initiation to 3  months) and late treatment period (3 months to 1 year) and their correlation with lipid and inflammatory profile changes during a year of therapy. Nine statin-naïve stable angina patients with inflammatory carotid plaques received 20 mg/day atorvastatin after undergoing initial18F-FDG PET/CT scanning of carotid arteries and ascending thoracic aorta, and then completed serial18F-FDG PET/CT imaging at 3 and 12  months whose data were analyzed. The primary outcome was the inter-scan percent change in target-to-background ratio (ΔTBR) within the index vessel. At 3 months of atorvastatin treatment, mean serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level decreased by 36.4% to<  70 mg/dL (p = 0.001) and mean serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level increased to>  40 mg/dL (p = 0.041), with both maintained with no further reduction up to 1 year (p = 0.516 and 0.715, respectively) while mean serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein level only numerically decreased (p = 0.093). The index vessel ΔTBR showed continuous...
Source: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - Category: Radiology Source Type: research