Comparative effects of atorvastatin and calcic and magnesic sulfate (Jermok) mineral water on endothelium function of hyperlipidemic rats

Hypercholesterolemia is associated with the impairment of endothelium dependent relaxation in human coronary and peripheral arteries. This impairment of endothelium is the first stage in improvement of atheroma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the preventive effects of atorvastatin and Jermuk mineral water on endothelial dysfunction induced in hypercholesterolemic rats. In this research 2 SD male rats of 100-150 g weight were used. The animals were randomly allocated into 4 groups. All groups were treated for 60 days. Then, thoracic aorta was dissected and tested. Rings of the aorta with 3-5 mm length were prepared and equilibrated in Krebs’ solution under 2 g tension (37 °C; 95% O2; 5% CO2) for 60 min. The vascular response to potassium chloride and phenylephrine was measured using isometric transducer. To determine the endothelium-dependent or – independent, vasorelaxation, in phenylephrine precontracted tissues, carbachol and sodium nitroprusside were employed, respectively. Data were expressed as mean ± sem and analyzed by student’s test. p<0.05 was considered significant. Hypercholesterolemia impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in response to carbachol, significantly (p<0.001). Treatment with Jermuk mineral water prevented endothelial dependent relaxation failure, nearly equal to atorvastatin and there were no significant difference in artery responses to carbachol at these groups comparing with healthy control group (p>0.05). Endothelium-independent vasodilatation in response to cumulative doses of sodium nitroprusside in different groups was not significantly different, (p 0.05). Results show that in preventing of endothelium dysfunction, atorvastatin is more useful. Jermuk mineral water also, based on its especial chemical composition, prevented endothelial dysfunction and kept its functionality near to healthy control group level. Therefore, clinical trial of atorvastatin and Jermuk mineral water could be suggested.