Effect of Pravastatin, a Potent 3‐Hydroxy‐3‐methylgliitaryl‐coenzyme A Reductase Inhibitor, on Survival of AH130 Hepatoma‐bearing Rats

3‐Hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl‐coenzyme A (HMG‐CoA) reductase inhibitor is known to have an inhibitory effect on cell growth in addition to a cholesterol‐lowering effect. This study examined the effect of pravastatin, a potent inhibitor of HMG‐CoA reductase, on the survival of AH130 hepatoma‐bearing rats. Pravastatin (1, 2, or 8 mg/kg body weight) was intraperitoneally injected once a day into tumor‐bearing rats. The difference in the survival curves was significant between the controls and the rats treated with S mg/kg of pravastatin (P < 0.019 by logrank test) but not between the controls and the rats treated with 1 or 2 mg/kg of the inhibitor. The tumor volume was significantly decreased in the rats treated with 8 mg/kg of pravastatin (P < 0.05). These observations showed that intraperitoneal injection of pravastatin could improve the survival of AH130 hepatoma‐bearing rats and had an inhibitory effect on the growth of the ascites form tumor.