Simvastatin pretreatment enhances ischemia-induced neovascularization and blood flow recovery in streptozotocin-treated mice

Compared with statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors), ezetimibe belongs to a new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that is not known to mediate pleiotropic effects. This study has shown that simvastatin improves blood flow recovery and increases new vessel formation by improvement of endothelial function and enhancement of endothelial progenitor cell mobilization after tissue ischemia in streptozotocin-treated mice. However, these effects were not observed in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice treated with ezetimibe, implying that both statins and ezetimibe decrease cholesterol levels, but they may have different effects on vasoprotective functions, independent of changes in plasma lipids.