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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Animals, Cholesterol, Coronary Vessels, Enzyme Inhibitors, Heart, Hemodynamics, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Male, Myocardial Infarction, NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester, Nitric Oxide, Organ Size, Rabbits, Simvastatin.
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Does simvastatin reduce myocardial infarct size via increased nitric oxide production in normocholesterolemic rabbits? Context: Statins have been reported to be protective against myocardial infarction (MI). Moreover, statin drugs upregulate nitric oxide (NO) in coronary artery independent of lipid-lowering effects. However their precise mechanism for MI-protection is unclear. We investigated the effect of lipophilic statin administration in a normocholesterolemic rabbit MI model. Nω-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME, 10 mg/kg) or vehicle alone was intravenously administered 20 min before inducing ischemia, followed by intravenous administration of simvastatin (5 mg/kg) or saline 10 min before ischemia. Rabbits then underwent 30 min of coronary occlusion followed by 48 h of reperfusion. The at-risk and infarct areas were calculated as a percentage of the total left ventricular slice area. Determination of infarct size revealed that pre-ischemic treatment with simvastatin reduced infarct size (30.5 ± 4%) in comparison to controls (45.0 ± 3%) (P < 0.05). This infarct size-reducing effect of simvastatin could be completely abrogated by pretreatment with L-NAME (42.0 ± 4%).
assistant
Pre-ischemic treatment with simvastatin reduces MI size via NO production. Simvastatin could be a useful drug for coronary artery disease patients without dyslipidemia as it has direct protective effects. Final Decision: yes