Abstract
Background
Ageing progressively diminishes arterial functions, even in the absence of traditional
risk factors. Our aim was to explore whether age-related arterial changes in middle-aged
males could be reversed using short-term, low-dose fluvastatin/valsartan combination
intervention.
Methods
Forty apparently healthy, middle-aged males (43.3±5.8 years) were recruited in a double-blind, randomised intervention. Individuals received
either 10 mg fluvastatin/20 mg valsartan daily or placebo over 30 days. The brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD), pulse wave velocity (PWV)
and common carotid artery β-stiffness were assessed at baseline and after 30 days, and again 5–10 months after therapy discontinuation.
Results
Arterial function variables significantly improved after 30 days of intervention; FMD improved by 167.7% (P<0.001), PWV by 10.9% (P<0.05) and β-stiffness by 18.8% (P<0.01), whereas no changes were obtained in the placebo group. The favourable outcomes
in the intervention group were accompanied by a significant decrease of high sensitivity-C
reactive protein levels (1.8-fold; P<0.05). In contrast, lipids and blood pressure remained unchanged. Surprisingly, the
beneficial arterial effects were still present to a substantial degree 7 months after completing intervention (remaining % of initial improvement: FMD 82.1%,
PWV 69.5% and β-stiffness 68.5%), but declined substantially after 10 months.
Conclusion
Our results indicate that age-related arterial changes, at least in middle-aged males,
can be reversed. Short-term treatment with a low-dose fluvastatin/valsartan combination
resulted in a large and long lasting improvement of arterial function.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 14, 2011
Accepted:
November 21,
2011
Received in revised form:
November 17,
2011
Received:
September 12,
2011
Footnotes
☆Grant: The present study was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency, Ljubljana Slovenia [research project L3-2293].
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
