Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34131442›Full record

ArticleExperimental and therapeutic medicine2021

Efficacy of simvastatin on carotid atherosclerotic plaque and its effects on serum inflammatory factors and cardiocerebrovascular events in elderly patients.

Huali Zhang, Min Jiang, Hong Hou, Qin Li

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Experimental and therapeutic medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 46% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Target the Heart: A New Axis of Alzheimer's Disease Prevention.Journal of dementia and alzheimer's disease · 2025
    Article
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  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Huali ZhangDepartment of Geriatrics, Gansu Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu 730050, P.R. China.
Min JiangDepartment of Nephropathy, People's Hospital of Wuwei, Wuwei, Gansu 733000, P.R. China.
Hong HouECG Room, Xi'an no. 3 Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710008, P.R. China.
Qin LiDepartment of Geriatrics, Baoji City People's Hospital, Baoji, Shaanxi 721000, P.R. China.
Baoji City Central Hospital · CNGansu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CNHuawei Technologies (China) · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To investigate the efficacy of simvastatin on carotid atherosclerotic plaque (CAP) and its effects on serum inflammatory factors and cardiocerebrovascular events in elderly patients, 130 elderly patients with CAP were randomly divided into observation (n=65) and control groups (n=65). The control group was treated with 75 mg/day aspirin enteric-coated tablets, and the observation group was administered additional 20 mg/day simvastatin. Serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (evaluated via the endpoint method) were determined in both groups. Furthermore, the length, thickness and number of CAPs was measured using color Doppler ultrasonography. In addition, levels of inflammatory biomarkers including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), nitric oxide, D-dimer and fibrinogen, as well as change in microemboli count, were also compared After treatment, the observation group exhibited a significant reduction in size, thickness, and number of CAP and intima-media thickness compared with before treatment. However, no significant difference was found in the indicators of CAPs in the control group before and after treatment. The levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipid cholesterol decreased, while high-density lipid cholesterol increased in the observation group after treatment, with notable changes in the observation group compared with in the control group. Overall response rate was higher in the observation group compared with the control group. TNF-α, IL-6, and hs-CRP levels in the observation group decreased after treatment compared with those before treatment and those in the control group. Furthermore, the rate of microemboli positivity was lower in the observation group than in the control group. Moreover, the overall incidence of acute cardiocerebrovascular events was lower in the observation group than in the control group. Therefore, it was demonstrated that simvastatin can reduce blood lipid levels, decrease the quantity and size of plaques, alleviate inflammatory response, reduce microemboli formation and reduce the risk of cardiocerebrovascular events in elderly patients with CAP.

Indexed as

cardiocerebrovascular eventcarotid atherosclerotic plaquemicroemboliserum inflammatory factorsimvastatin

Identifiers

PMID34131442
PMCPMC8193215
OpenAlexW3167516809

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.