Trial reportAtherosclerosis2009
Statins inhibit Rho kinase activity in patients with atherosclerosis.
Trial report in Atherosclerosis, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 139 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between Statin Use and Chemotherapy-Induced Cardiotoxicity: A Meta-Analysis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of loading dose of atorvastatin therapy prior to percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute coronary syndrome: a meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials.Drug design, development and therapy · 2019 · on this mapPooled it
- Safety and efficacy of atorvastatin for rebleeding in cerebral cavernous malformations (AT CASH EPOC): a phase 1/2a, randomised placebo-controlled trial.The Lancet. Neurology · 2025Trial
- Atorvastatin Treatment of Cavernous Angiomas with Symptomatic Hemorrhage Exploratory Proof of Concept (AT CASH EPOC) Trial.Neurosurgery · 2019Trial
- Timing of Loading Dose of Atorvastatin in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights From the SECURE-PCI Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA cardiology · 2018Trial
- Effect of Loading Dose of Atorvastatin Prior to Planned Percutaneous Coronary Intervention on Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Acute Coronary Syndrome: The SECURE-PCI Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA · 2018 · on this mapTrial
- ROCK inhibitor fasudil attenuated high glucose-induced MCP-1 and VCAM-1 expression and monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion.Cardiovascular diabetology · 2012Trial
- Mineralocorticoid receptor blocker eplerenone improves endothelial function and inhibits Rho-associated kinase activity in patients with hypertension.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2012Trial
- Calcium channel blocker and Rho-associated kinase activity in patients with hypertension.Journal of hypertension · 2011Trial
- Efficacy of simvastatin as adjunctive therapy in liver cirrhosis: an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Article
- Statin Use and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Severity in Patients of African Ancestry.Research square · 2026Article
- The effect of statins on the risk of bleeding in cerebral cavernous malformations: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Surgical neurology international · 2026Review
- Molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of statins on bone metabolism: an evolving paradigm of statins delivery modalities for bone regeneration.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Impact of statin therapy on CD40:CD40L signaling: mechanistic insights and therapeutic opportunities.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Current and Future Treatment Options for Cerebral Cavernous Malformations.Stroke (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Review
- Targeting the High-Density Lipoprotein Proteome for the Treatment of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Efficacy of single high-dose statin prior to percutaneous coronary intervention in acute coronary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Egyptian heart journal : (EHJ) : official bulletin of the Egyptian Society of Cardiology · 2024Article
- Interactions between Angiotensin Type-1 Antagonists, Statins, and ROCK Inhibitors in a Rat Model of L-DOPA-Induced Dyskinesia.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Using Advanced Bioinformatics Tools to Identify Novel Therapeutic Candidates for Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy.Translational vision science & technology · 2023Article
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn addition to inhibiting cholesterol synthesis, statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) decrease the formation of isoprenoid intermediates required for the activation of key signaling pathways, including Rho/Rho kinase (ROCK). In experimental settings, statins inhibit ROCK and reverse vascular dysfunctions in atherosclerosis, independent of cholesterol reduction. It is not known whether statins inhibit ROCK activity in humans with atherosclerosis.
methodsWe investigated 35 patients with stable atherosclerosis in a randomized, double-blind study comparing treatment with high-dose (80mg/d) or low-dose (10mg/d) atorvastatin to placebo for 28 days. Blood samples for leukocyte ROCK activity, fasting lipids, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were obtained on days 0, 7, 14, and 28 after randomization and change over time with the two statin treatments relative to placebo was examined.
resultsAtorvastatin 80mg/d reduced ROCK activity (p=0.002 vs. placebo). This decline was rapid and significant within 2 weeks of treatment. The inhibition of ROCK by atorvastatin (80mg/d) remained significant even after controlling for changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (p=0.01). Furthermore, there was no correlation between changes in ROCK activity and changes in LDL-C (r=0.2, p=0.25) or triglycerides (r=0.1, p=0.55). There was a modest correlation between ROCK inhibition and change in hs-CRP among patients randomized to atorvastatin 80mg/d (r=0.6, p=0.07).
conclusionsThese first-in-man findings demonstrate that high-dose atorvastatin rapidly inhibits the pro-atherogenic Rho/ROCK pathway, independent of cholesterol reduction. This inhibition may contribute to the clinical benefits of statins. Rho/ROCK may provide a useful therapeutic target in patients with atherosclerosis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.