The Lipid independent Effect of Statins on Albuminuria in Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract Inflammation is associated with diabetic nephropathy. Statins have shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect and to ameliorate renal disease. The aim of this work was to evaluate if the effect of atorvastatin on albuminuria is due to a lipid dependent or independent mechanism. Twenty normotensive type-2 diabetic patients received atorvastatin 10 mg c/24 hrs for 3 months. In all of them 24 hrs urinary albumin excretion, lipid profile and the levels of soluble adhesion molecules (SAMs) were measured at the beginning and end of the study. In all patients 24 hrs urinary albumin excretion was reduced (566.08 ± 85.8 mg to 292.8 ± 60.1mg (p=0.002), and SAM levels too. ICAM-1 decreased from 326.4 ± 53 to 289.6 ± 32 ng/ml (p=0.05), VCAM went down from 964.6 ± 93.3 to 610.8 ± 83.3ng/ml (p=0.022), and e-selectine was reduced from 68.9 ± 16.4 to 29.8 ± 6.5ng/ml (p=0.01). Reduction in urinary albumin excretion correlated with the fall in VCAM-1 (R=0.65, p <0.001). Our results suggest that the effect of atorvastatin on urinary albumin excretion is mainly due to an anti-inflammatory action.