Introduction: The pleiotropic antiatherosclerotic effects of statins have been widely described and were proposed to mediate a potential antihypertensive action. However, statin indication in hypertensives with subclinical atherosclerosis is still controversial.

Based on these observations, we decided to evaluate the effect of rosuvastatin on central arterial pressure and arterial stiffness by using noninvasive tests.

Aim: To evaluate rosuvastatin effects on: a) central and peripheral blood pressure, aortic and peripheral augmentation index and b) arterial stiffness.

Material and methods: We included 79 consecutive essential hypertensives under stable antihypertensive drug treatment. All patients were subjected to a 3-month intensive diet and physical activity period; and were allocated to: a) rosuvastatin (20 mg/day, OD) or b) no rosuvastatin treatment. The following determinations were conducted at the beginning and after a 1 year follow-up period: Total/HDL/LDL cholesterol; triglycerides; pulse wave velocity (Complior^®), central blood pressure and Augmentation Index (Tensioclinic^®).

Results: No differences in basal population characteristics were found between the two groups. At follow-up the rosuvastatin group showed a significant reduction in all the parameters studied (table 1 and figure 1).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that in stabilized hypertensives subjects, rosuvastatin is associated with an antihypertensive effect on top of the specific antihypertensive treatment. This effect is predominant for central blood pressure variables and is accompanied with a significant improvement in arterial stiffness.

Statin effects on peripheral artery distensibility may mediate a secondary relief of aortic load conditions. Further studies are needed to evaluate the potential implication of these findings for hypertensive patients.