Effects of long-term atorvastatin treatment on cardiac aging

A number of studies have reported that atorvastatin (AVT) may have an important role in the delay of cardiac aging. However, the mechanism by which AVT affects cardiac aging has not been established. In this study, a series of experiments were performed to investigate the effects of AVT treatment on the cardiovascular system and the associated mechanism. Wistar rats were administered AVT or saline for 4 months. Age-related changes in the hearts were measured at the end of the experiment. The results showed that compared with young rats, the aged rats had significant changes indicative of myocardial aging, including increased blood lipid 1evelss, increased body weight, cardiac hypertrophy, larger myocardial cells, irregular muscle fibers, fewer deeply stained nuclei, smaller intercellular spaces, a larger number of apoptotic cells and increased levels of lipofuscin in myocardial tissue. However, long-term AVT treatment was able to significantly delay or even reverse these aging-related changes. In addition, these effects showed a certain dose-dependence. In general, long-term AVT treatment reduces blood lipids, inhibits cardiac hypertrophy, suppresses cardiomyocyte apoptosis and lowers the level of oxidative stress to protect the heart from aging.