Concomitant Administration of Different Doses of Simvastatin with Ivabradine Influence on PAI-1 and Heart Rate in Normo- and Hypercholesterolaemic Rats

Ivabradine is a novel heart rate lowering agent that inhibits I(f) ionic current in the sinus node and demonstrates antiischaemic and antianginal activity. The aim of the paper was to investigate the effect its dose-dependent drug-drug interaction with simvastatin inhibitor HMGCo-A has on PAI-1 blood level, heart rate and blood pressure. The experiments were performed in hyper- and normocholesterolemic Wistar rats receiving simvastatin (1 and 20 mg × kg(−1) bw) with ivabradine (10 mg × kg(−1) bw) during a 4-week period. Ivabradine exacerbated the decrease of PAI-1 in normocholesterolemic animals receiving simvastatin at a dose of 1 mg/kg bw and was not observed to have any significant influence on the PAI-1 values in rats receiving 20 mg × kg(−1) bw simvastatin. Ivabradine, coadministered with simvastatin given at a dose of 20 mg × kg(−1) bw, significantly slowed the heart rate in normocholesterolaemic and hypercholesterolaemic groups as compared to the group receiving ivabradine alone. Conclusion. The administration of ivabradine to normocholesterolaemic and hypercholesterolaemic rats receiving simvastatin significantly exacerbated the slowing of heart rate with no effect on blood pressure. The administration of ivabradine has been shown to demonstrate different effects on PAI-1 values depending on lipid disorders.