Lovastatin induces platelet apoptosis

- The pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia caused by statins remains unclear.
- In this study, we demonstrate that lovastatin, a member of statin family, induces caspase-dependent platelet apoptosis.
- It did not incur platelet activation, whereas, impaired platelet function in vitro and reduced circulating platelets in vivo, suggesting the possible pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia in patients treated with statins.

Statins are widely used in the prevention of atherosclerosis and treatment of coronary artery disease because of pleiotropic effects on thrombosis. Thrombocytopenia and hemorrhage occurred in some statin-treated patients, but the reason remains unclear. In the current study, we show that lovastatin dose-dependently induces depolarization of mitochondrial inner transmembrane potential, leading to up-regulation of Bak, down-regulation of Bcl-XL, and activation of caspase-3/8/9. Lovastatin treatment did not increase the surface expression of P-selectin or PAC-1 binding but led to strongly reduced collagen- and thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. The integrin αIIbβ3 antagonist, RGDS, inhibited lovastatin-induced apoptosis in both human platelets and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably expressing integrin αIIbβ3. The number of circulating platelets in mice was significantly reduced after intraperitoneal injections with lovastatin. Taken together, these data indicate that lovastatin induced caspase-dependent platelet apoptosis. Lovastatin does not incur platelet activation, whereas impairs platelet function and reduces circulating platelets in vivo, suggesting the possible pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia and hemorrhage in patients treated with statins.