ABSTRACT
AIM: To investigate the effect of atorvastatin ( AT) on the release of endothelial microparticles (EMP) and myocardial apoptosis in the rats with myocardial infarction .METHODS: SD male rats (n=24) were ran-domly divided into 3 groups:sham operation ( sham) group , myocardial infarction ( MI) group and MI+AT group.The rat model of acute myocardial infarction was prepared by coronary artery ligation .At 2 h and 24 h after modeling , the pe-ripheral blood was collected to detect creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT).The circulating levels of EMP were measured by flow cytometry .The myocardial apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase -mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay.RESULTS: At 2 h after modeling, the level of CK-MB was signifi-cantly increased in MI group compared with sham group , and the level of EMP and the myocardial apoptotic rate were sig-nificantly increased in MI group and MI +AT group compared with sham group .At 24 h after modeling , the level of EMP was significantly increased in MI group compared with sham group .The levels of CK-MB, cTnT, EMP and the myocardial apoptotic rate were significantly decreased in MI +AT group compared with MI group .Moreover , the level of CK-MB in MI group was significantly increased at 24 h compared with that at 2 h after modeling .The levels of CK-MB, cTnT and EMP were significantly decreased in MI +AT group at 24 h compared with those at 2 h after modeling .CONCLUSION: Ator-vastatin may reduce the level of EMP and the myocardial apoptotic rate in the rats with acute myocardial infarction , indica-ting that atorvastatin plays a role in protecting endothelium .