Nicorandil, a balanced vasodilator, is used in the second-line therapy of angina pectoris. In this study, we aimed to illuminate the effects of nicorandil on inflammation, apoptosis, and atherosclerotic plaque progression. Twenty-five LDL-R -/- mice were fed a high-fat diet for 14 weeks. After 6 weeks mice were randomly allocated to treatment with nicorandil (10 mg/kg/day) or tap water. Nicorandil treatment led to a more stable plaque phenotype, displaying an increased thickness of the fibrous cap (p = 0.014), a significant reduction in cholesterol clefts (p = 0.045), and enhanced smooth muscle cell content (p = 0.009). In endothelial cells nicorandil did not reduce the induction of adhesion molecules or proinflammatory cytokines. In H2O2 challenged endothelial cells, pretreatment with nicorandil significantly reduced the percentage of late apoptotic/necrotic cells (p = 0.016) and the ratio of apoptotic to living cells (p = 0.036). Atherosclerotic lesions of animals treated with nicorandil exhibited a significantly decreased content of cleaved caspase-3 (p = 0.034), lower numbers of apoptotic nuclei (p = 0.040), and reduced 8-oxogunanine staining (p = 0.039), demonstrating a stabilizing effect of nicorandil in established atherosclerotic lesions. We suggest that nicorandil has a positive effect on atherosclerotic plaque stabilization by reducing apoptosis.
