Background: Statin therapy can improve plaque stability. However, the time course of effects of statin on adventitial angiogenesis and plaque neovascularization has not been studied.
Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate whether statin therapy reduces plaque neovascularization, associated with adventitial angiogenesis, over 24 months as assessed by using carotid dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI).
Methods: Forty-three lipid treatment-naïve subjects with asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis received rosuvastatin (5-20 mg/d) to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to <80 mg/dL for 24 months. Carotid DCE-MRI was performed at baseline, 3, 12 and 24 months. Vascularity (Vp = fractional plasma volume) and vascular permeability (Ktrans = transfer constant) derived from kinetic modeling of DCE-MRI were measured in both adventitia and plaque.
Results: Adventitia Vp and adventitia Ktrans were significantly correlated with plaque Vp and plaque Ktrans at baseline. Rosuvastatin significantly reduced both adventitial and plaque Vp significantly at 3 months from 0.121 ± 0.064 to 0.085 ± 0.049 (P = .008) and from 0.096 ± 0.052 to 0.067 ± 0.043 (P = .013). Adventitial and plaque Vp continued to decrease by 43% and 34% at 12 months and by 49% and 45% at 24 months. However, the continued reductions from 3 to 12 months and from 12 to 24 months were not statistically significant. Adventitial and plaque Ktrans showed similar trends, but nonstatistically significant decreases during the 24 months of treatment.
Conclusions: Rosuvastatin therapy rapidly and significantly decreased adventitial and plaque neovascularization at 3 months followed by continued, but nonstatistically significant, decreases at 12 and 24 months.
Keywords: Adventitial angiogenesis; Atherosclerosis; Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging; Plaque neovascularization; Statin therapy.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.