[Morphological manifestations of the pleiotropic effect of statins on the human aorta in atherosclerosis].

ABSTRACT

The morphological manifestations of the pleiotropic effect of statins on the human aortic intima in atherosclerosis were studied. The aortic fragments from males aged 45-65 years, obtained at aortocoronary bypass surgery, served as a material. The thickness of the aortic intima and its levels of macrophages, smooth muscle cells (SMC), collagen fibers, and glycosaminoglycans (GAG) were measured in patients treated and untreated with statins. The macrophages were histochemically visualized, by detecting the activity of acid phosphatase, SMC-NADP-diaphorase, the collagen fibers were stained by the Masson procedure; GAG was stained with toluidine blue. The above structural components were quantified by computer-aid morphometric technique (Photoshop-7). The findings have indicated that statin therapy causes the following vascular wall changes a 20% decrease in the aortic intimal thickness; a considerable reduction in the macrophage-occupied intimal area (by 2 times in primary extracellular lipoidosis, by 2.7 times in the lipid spots, and by 15.3% in the mature lipid spots), and lower levels of collagen fibers (by 15.1 in the lipid spots and by 18.4% in the mature lipid spots), an insignificant reduction in GAG), and larger numbers of SMC (by 20.3% in primary extracellular lipoidosis, by 17.6 and 20.4% in the lipid spots of varying maturity). The findings suggest that atherosclerosis regresses under the action of statins.