Antioxidative Activity after Rosuvastatin Treatment in Patients with Stable Ischemic Heart Disease and Decreased High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The clinical significance of statin-induced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) changes is not well known. We investigated whether rosuvastatin-induced HDL-C changes can influence the anti-oxidative action of high-density lipoprotein particle. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 240 patients with stable ischemic heart disease were studied. Anti-oxidative property was assessed by paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity. We compared the lipid profile and PON1 activity at baseline and at 8 weeks after rosuvastatin 10 mg treatment. RESULTS: Rosuvastatin treatment increased the mean HDL-C concentration by 1.9±9.2 mg/dL (6.4±21.4%). HDL-C increased in 138 patients (57.5%), but decreased in 102 patients (42.5%) after statin treatment. PON1 activity increased to 19.1% in all patients. In both, the patients with increased HDL-C and with decreased HDL-C, PON1 activity significantly increased after rosuvastatin treatment (+19.3% in increased HDL-C responder; p=0.018, +18.8% in decreased HDL-C responder; p=0.045 by paired t-test). Baseline PON1 activity modestly correlated with HDL-C levels (r=0.248, p=0.009); however, the PON1 activity evaluated during the course of the treatment did not correlate with HDL-C levels (r=0.153, p=0.075). CONCLUSION: Rosuvastatin treatment improved the anti-oxidative properties as assessed by PON1 activity, regardless of on-treatment HDL-C levels, in patients with stable ischemic heart disease.