Impact of rosuvastatin treatment on reduction of thrombus burden in rat acute inferior vena cava stenosis

Background: this study tested the hypothesis that rosuvastatin reduces thrombus burden through inhibiting inflammation and suppressing reactive oxygen species (ros) generation in an inferior vena cava stenosis (ivcst)-induced deep vein thrombosis (dvt) rat model.methods. 12-week-old male sprague-dawley rats (n = 24) were equally divided into sham control (group 1: laparotomy only),ivcst (group 2: ivc stenosis),and ivcst + rosuvastatin (20 mg/kg/day,orally after induction of ivc stenosis) (group 3). ivc diameter was measured by days 0 and 14 and the right hindlimb thickness was measured by day 0,7,and 14 prior to scarifying the animals.results: the results showed significantly increased ivc diameter and hindlimb thickness in group 2 than in groups 1 and 3,and significantly increased in group 3 than in group 1 by day 14 after the procedure (all p < 0.001). additionally,wbc count and prevalence of helper t cells,cytotoxic t cells,regulatory t cells,and early and late apoptotic mononuclear cells (mncs) in circulation were significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1,and were significantly suppressed in group 3 after treatment (all p < 0.001). furthermore,inflammation at cellular (cd68+ cells) and protein (mmp-9,tnf-α) levels,oxidative stress (oxidized protein) and reactive oxygen species (nox-1,nox-2) in ivc also showed similar changes as those of immune cells in circulation among the three groups (all p < 0.01).conclusion: rosuvastatin treatment significantly reduced ivc thrombus burden through inhibiting inflammatory response and oxidative stress in a rodent model of dvt. © 2014 lin et al.