IMPROVEMENT OF ERYTHROCYTE DEFORMABILITY BY CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING THERAPY WITH PRAVASTATIN IN HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIC PATIENTS

Erythrocyte deformation is an important regulatory factor of the micro circulation. The present study was designed to examine whether erythro cyte deformability is altered in hypercholesterolemic patients and, if so, whether cholesterol-lowering therapy affects this parameter in th ese patients, The erythrocyte deformability of 37 hypercholesterolemic patients was evaluated before and after 1 year of therapy with pravas tatin, an inhibitor of hepatic hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A reduc tase, under various shear stresses (4.7, 9.5, 23.6, 47.3, 118.1, and 2 36.2 dyne/cm(2)) using laser diffractometry. At study entry, erythrocy te deformability under 4.7 and 9.5 dyne/cm(2) shear stress, which is a ctually observed in human vessels, was reduced compared with that in 2 0 age-matched normocholesterolemic subjects and was inversely correlat ed with serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholestero l. Pravastatin therapy for 1 year, which reduced serum cholesterol fro m 288 +/- 28 to 223 +/- 20 mg/dL, significantly improved erythrocyte d eformability by approximately 20%. There was a significant relation be tween the improvement of erythrocyte deformability and the reduction o f serum cholesterol or LDL cholesterol. The results suggest that eryth rocyte deformability is reduced in hypercholesterolemic patients, and that long-term cholesterol-lowering therapy can improve reduced erythr ocyte deformability, which may contribute to the improvement of organ perfusion. Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Company.