Effects of early administration of atorvastatin treatment on thrombotic process in normocholesterolemic patients with unstable angina

Background: Although statin-treatment during the acute phase of unstable coronary syndromes improve the outcome their effects on thrombosis/fibrinolysis system in normocholesterolemic patients admitted with unstable angina remain obscure. We assessed the effects of short-term atorvastatin treatment on thrombotic/fibrinolysis markers in normocholesterolemic in patients with unstable angina. Methods: Forty-five patients with unstable angina were allocated into two groups to receive atorvastatin 10 mg/day (n=24) or no statin (n =21) for 6 weeks. Circulating levels of von Willebrand Factor (vWF), factor V (W), protein C (prC), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and antithrombin III (ATIII) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, by the patients admission and at the 1st and 6th week of the study. Results: After I week of treatment, a significant increase of ATIII (p < 0.05), fV (p < 0.01) and vWF (p < 0.05) was found in the control group, but not in atorvastatin-treated group. Similarly, at 6 weeks after admission, plasma levels of ATIII were still significantly higher than at baseline in controls (p < 0.05), but not in atorvastatin-treated group. Plasma levels of PrtC were significantly increased in both controls (p < 0.01) and atorvastatin-treated patients (p < 0.05) at I week, while remained unaffected in atorvastatin-treated group at 6th week. There was no significant difference in the variations of plasma levels of tPA, PrtS and fVlI between the two groups at 1 and 6 weeks after admission. Conclusions: In normocholesterolemic patients admitted with unstable angina the early administration of atonastatin, significantly affects von Willebrand factor levels and the expression of liver-derived components of both thrombosis and fibrinolysis system. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.