Rosuvastatin and Ischemia Reperfusion

Summary

Statins, including rosuvastatin, are drugs that lower plasma cholesterol and prevent atherosclerotic disease. Recent preclinical evidence suggests that statins also increase tissue tolerance to ischemia-reperfusion injury. This is a randomized, double blind, parallel designed study comparing the effect of 1 week treatment with rosuvastatin (20 mg, once a day) with placebo on forearm ischemia-reperfusion injury in healthy male volunteers. Forearm ischemia-reperfusion injury is quantified with Tc-99m-annexin A5 scintigraphy of the hands after a standardized ischemic exercise test. For this purpose, Tc-99m-rh-annexin A5 (400 MBq; \< 5 mSv) is injected intravenously upon reperfusion, followed by scintigraphy of both hands with a gamma camera at 1 and 4 hours after injection. Annexin A5 targeting is calculated as the percentage difference in activity (counts/pixel) between the thenar muscles of both hands.

Timeline

Start

2006-04

Primary completion

—

Completion

2007-08

Publications

• Background Rongen GA, Oyen WJ, Ramakers BP, Riksen NP, Boerman OC, Steinmetz N, Smits P. Annexin A5 scintigraphy of forearm as a novel in vivo model of skeletal muscle preconditioning in humans. Circulation. 2005 Jan 18;111(2):173-8. doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000151612.02223.F2. Epub 2004 Dec 27.
• Meijer P, Oyen WJ, Dekker D, van den Broek PH, Wouters CW, Boerman OC, Scheffer GJ, Smits P, Rongen GA. Rosuvastatin increases extracellular adenosine formation in humans in vivo: a new perspective on cardiovascular protection. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2009 Jun;29(6):963-8. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.108.179622. Epub 2009 Apr 9.

Drugs

Indications