Pravastatin Prevents Aortic Atherosclerosis via Modulation of Signal Transduction and Activation of Transcription 3 (STAT3) to Attenuate Interleukin-6 (IL-6) Action in ApoE Knockout Mice

• Main Authors: Xiaoxu Zhou, Dan Li, Wei Yan, Weimin Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2008-11-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: Pravastatin; atherosclerosis; IL-6; STAT3; SOCS3
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/9/11/2253/
• ISSN: 1422-0067

The purpose of this study was to determine whether pravastatin’s prevention of aortic atherosclerosis via attenuation of IL-6 action depends on modulation of STAT3 activity. Male apoE knockout (apoE-/-) mice fed on a diet containing 1.25% cholesterol (wt/wt) were divided into pravastatin group provided with pravastatin (80 mg kg-1 per day) and atherosclerosis group. After eight weeks, pravastatin significantly prevented atherosclerotic lesion and reduced levels of IL-6 in serum and lesion, and significantly decreased expressions of phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3) and increased suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) expressions in lesions. Our results suggested that pravastatin’s aortic atherosclerosis preventing action via attenuation of IL-6 action may partially depend on modulation of STAT3 activity.