Anti-inflammatory effects of simvastatin on adipokines in type 2 diabetic patients with carotid atherosclerosis

Statins are extensively used for lowering LDL-cholesterol and reducing cardiovascular events. Recent studies have shown that statins have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects. We aimed to determine whether and how adipokines are regulated during statin treatment in type 2 diabetic patients.

In this study,we investigated the changes of CRP and inflammation-related adipokines (SAA,IL-6,TNFalpha and adiponectin) in 23 type 2 diabetic patients with atherosclerosis who received statin therapy, and 20 diabetic patients with atherosclerosis and 14 diabetic patients without atherosclerosis who did not receive statin therapy for a period of three months.

By the end of the simvastatin treatment (40 mg, daily), LDL-cholesterol was decreased by 16.7% and HDL-cholesterol was increased by 31.9%. SAA, CRP, TNFalpha and IL-6 levels were decreased by 31.8%, 66.2%, 53.9% and 14%, respectively and adiponectin was increased by 59.6%, compared with the baseline levels. Interestingly, the decrease of SAA was positively correlated with that of LDL-cholesterol but negatively with HDL-cholesterol during statin treatment. Among the adipokines, the decrease of SAA was positively correlated with TNFalpha (r = 0.50, p = 0.016).

The results suggest that adipokines may be differentially regulated and independent of cholesterol changes and that adipokines may be a mediator, and the adipose tissue may be a target of statins' anti-inflammatory effect.