Objective: To explore the therapeutic effect of simvastatin on the pulmonary hypertension induced by injected monocrotaline combining with high pulmonary blood flow of rats.
Methods: Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into the placebo group, simvastatin 1 mg/(kg x d) group, simvastatin 2 mg/(kg x d) group and control group. The arterial-venous shunt rats were injected with monocrotaline at day 7 and developing the pulmonary hypertension after shunting operation. Rats were received either placebo or treatment with simvastatin in the respective group. On day 37 after the shunt operation, the mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and right ventricular hypertrophy Cright ventricle/(left ventricle+septum), RV/(LV+S)) of all rats were measured. The percent vascular wall thickness and muscularization of the pulmonary small arteries were evaluated. The blood samples were collected to compare the total cholesterol levels between groups.
Results: The RV/ (LV+S) and mPAP elevated obviously in placebo group compared to the control group (P<0. 05). The muscularization of pulmonary small arteries and pulmonary artery medial hypertrophy increased significantly in placebo group compared with the control group (P<0. 05). The simvastatin treatment made the attenuation of the above-mentioned indexes in this animal model (P<0. 05). There was no significant statistics difference of the total cholesterol levels between any two groups (P > 0. 05).
Conclusion: By inhibiting the pulmonary vascular remodeling, simvastatin attenuated the development of pulmonary hypertension. Simvastatin may have preventive and therapeutic effects on pulmonary hypertension.