International Journal of the Cardiovascular Academy (Jan 2022)
Effectiveness of statin treatment in reducing red cell distribution width and mean platelet volume in patients with stable coronary artery disease: A retrospective study
Abstract
Objectives: Mean platelet volume (MPV) has been shown to be a predictor of platelet activation and plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a measure of the variability of erythrocyte volumes and might reflect underlying chronic inflammation. Both MPV and RDW are related to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Since statins have pleiotropic effects, we aim to investigate the effect of statins on this possible hematologic markers of atherosclerotic risk in stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty-one statin-naive patients who had undergone coronary angiography for stable CAD between June 2012 and June 2013 were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were treated with atorvastatin or rosuvastatin. The lipid profile and hematological parameters were measured at baseline and after statin treatment. Results: One hundred and twenty-one patients were included in the study. The mean age was 60.5 ± 9 years and 38% of patients were women. Out of 121 patients, 106 (87.6%) patients received atorvastatin therapy and 15 (12.4%) patients received rosuvastatin therapy. After a median follow-up period of 36 days, statin treatment markedly reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG) levels (P = 0.0001, for all). For hematological parameters, only RDW significantly decreased after statin treatment (P = 0.0001). The Δ RDW were not associated with Δ LDL-C (r = 0.03; P = 0.72), ΔTG (r = 0.06; P = 0.49) and Δ TC levels (r = 0.05; P = 0.55). Statins had no effect on MPV levels (P = 0.32). Conclusions: Statin therapy significantly reduces the RDW levels in stable CAD irrespective of cholesterol levels, which might confirm the anti-inflammatory effect of statins. However, the association between decreased RDW levels and prognosis in stable CAD has to be established by multi-center, prospective studies in large populations.
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