Efficacy of pravastatin on carotid artery atherosclerosis plaque after cerebral infarction and the change of C-reactive protein level

Cerebral infarction is featured with atherosclerosis and is often accompanied with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. This study applied pravastatin on acute cerebral infarction patients complicated with carotid artery atherosclerosis, and observed the pattern of atherosclerosis plaque, serum CRP level and blood lipid, in an attempt to evaluate the treatment efficacy of pravastatin. Cerebral infarction patients complicated with carotid artery atherosclerosis were randomly divided into pravastatin, diet control and negative control groups. Aspirin was given to all individuals, while pravastatin was given in the first group and low-salt, low-fat diet was introduced in the second group. The plaque of carotid artery was examined by ultrasound, while blood lipid and CRP level were tested and analyzed for their correlations with artery plaque. After pravastatin treatment, artery plaque score, blood lipid and CRP levels were significantly lowered than those in other two groups (P<0.05). A positive relationship existed between plaque score and CRP level, while the plaque was negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein (HDL) level (P<0.05) but not for other parameters (P>0.05). The application of pravastatin in treating cerebral infarction with carotid artery atherosclerosis can effectively decrease the plaque size, suppress blood lipid and CRP levels.