Teaching an old dog new tricks: potential antiatherothrombotic use for statins. J Clin Invest 2012 Feb;122(2):478-81
Date
01/05/2012Pubmed ID
22214843Pubmed Central ID
PMC3266801DOI
10.1172/JCI61857Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84856545957 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 2 CitationsAbstract
Thrombotic complications represent a highly significant component of morbidity and mortality associated with hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis. In this issue of the JCI, Owens et al. report possible mechanisms underlying the prothrombotic, proinflammatory state accompanying hypercholesterolemia. Using rodent, monkey, and human subjects, they show that circulating oxidized LDL and circulating monocyte-derived tissue factor are important instigating factors driving the thrombotic, inflammatory phenotype and, surprisingly, that statin therapy ameliorated the phenotype even in the absence of lowering cholesterol levels. The studies raise the intriguing possibility that therapies directed at pathways generating oxidant stress or pathways involved in transmitting oxidized LDL-mediated signals in circulating platelets and monocytes could have antiatherothrombotic potential, probably with minimal anticoagulant and hemorrhagic potential.
Author List
Silverstein RLAuthor
Roy L. Silverstein MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsAnticholesteremic Agents
Blood Coagulation
Humans
Hypercholesterolemia
Male
Monocytes
Simvastatin
Thromboplastin
