Atherosclerosis
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Pathological hypoxia plays an important role in many diseases, such as atherosclerosis, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of different statins on hypoxia-induced endothelial cell signalling. Human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were treated with NaCN (CN, 2.5 mmol/l) to simulate a transient hypoxia. ⋯ Simvastatin (5 micromol/l), fluvastatin (2.5 micromol/l), and cerivastatin (0.1 micromol/l) all reduced CN-induced proliferation, ROS generation and Ca(2+) increase. Cell viability was not reduced by the statins and the antiproliferative effect was completely reversed by mevalonate (500 micromol/l). In conclusion our study demonstrates that statins block hypoxia-associated endothelial proliferation by preventing the increase of Ca(2+) and ROS.