Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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OXIDATIVE STRESS: MARKER OF ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION IN EXPERIMENTAL MODELS OF RATS WITH HYPERHOMOCYSTEINEMIA

ANDREEA CLIM 1#, MINELA AIDA MĂRĂNDUCĂ 1, 2 #, *, ALIN CONSTANTIN PINZARIU 1, CRISTIAN TUDOR COZMA 1, DRAGOMIR NICOLAE ȘERBAN 1, IONELA LĂCRĂMIOARA ȘERBAN 1

1 “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Morpho-Functional Sciences II, Discipline of Physiology, 700115 Iași, Romania.
2 “Sf. Spiridon” County Clinical Emergency Hospital, Internal Medicine Clinic, Iasi, Romania
3 “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Internal Medicine, Iași, Romania

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The present experimental study aimed to evaluate the influence of hyperhomocysteinemia on endothelial dysfunction via the assessment of antioxidant activity in an experimental model of rats with hyperhomocysteinemia. Fourteen 6-month-old male Wistar rats weighing 450 - 550 g were allocated into two groups. After 2 weeks of accommodation, both groups received High-Fat diet (HFD) for the entire study duration. The experimental group (G-II) was also administered methionine 1 mg/kg body weight orally daily during the first 20 days. Following model confirmation, G-II received atorvastatin 20 mg/kg body weight by daily gavage for the next 20 days. We evaluated, at the beginning and the end of the experimental study, the values for Homocysteine (Hcy) and parameters of oxidative stress (OS) - total antioxidant status (TAS), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). HFD induced significant lipid profile modification, while methionine induced hyperhomocysteinemia by altering the metabolism of Hcy. Atorvastatin treatment rescued both Hcy values and lipid profile in G-II. Our results show that atorvastatin treatment has lipid-lowering properties and antioxidative effects and also reduces the Hcy concentration in this experimental model of rats with hyperhomocysteinemia. Atorvastatin treatment proves promising in alleviating endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases.