Rosuvastatin reduces atherosclerotic lesions and promotes progenitor cell mobilisation and recruitment in apolipoprotein E knockout mice

Statins enhance incorporation of bone marrow-derived cells into experimental neointimal lesions. However, the contribution of progenitor cells to progression of spontaneous atherosclerotic plaques, and the possible modulatory role of statins in this process, remain poorly understood. We compared the effects of rosuvastatin (1 and 10 mg/kg BW) and pravastatin (10 mg/kg) on progenitor cell mobilisation, recruitment into atherosclerotic plaques, and lesion growth. Statins were administered over 8 weeks to apolipoprotein E knockout mice on atherogenic diet. In addition, mice were lethally irradiated, followed by transplantation of bone marrow from LacZ transgenic mice. Rosuvastatin reduced lesion area and intima-to-media ratio at the brachiocephalic artery compared to vehicle, while both parameters were not significantly altered by pravastatin. Rosuvastatin also augmented endothelialisation (P < 0.05) and reduced the smooth muscle cells (SMC) content (P = 0.042) of lesions. Numbers of c-kit, sca-1 and flk-1, sca-1 double-positive progenitor cells were significantly increased in rosuvastatin compared to control-treated mice, both in the bone marrow and the peripheral blood. Similarly, the number of spleen-derived acLDL, lectin double-positive progenitor cells (P = 0.001) and colony-forming units (P = 0.0104) was significantly increased in mice treated with rosuvastatin compared to vehicle alone. In the bone marrow, increased Akt and p42/44 MAP kinase phosphorylation and upregulated SDF1α mRNA expression were observed. Importantly, rosuvastatin treatment also increased the plasma levels of c-kit ligand (P = 0.003), and the number of c-kit-positive cells within atherosclerotic lesions (P = 0.041). Our findings suggest that rosuvastatin reduces the size of atherosclerotic plaques, and this effect appears to involve progenitor cell mobilisation and recruitment into vascular lesions.