%0 Journal Article %T The methyl ester of rosuvastatin elicited an endothelium-independent and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase-independent relaxant effect in rat aorta %A L¨®pez-Canales %A J.S. %A L¨®pez-Sanchez %A P. %A Perez-Alvarez %A V.M. %A Wens-Flores %A I. %A Polanco %A A.C. %A Castillo-Henkel %A E. %A Castillo-Henkel %A C. %J Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research %D 2011 %I Associa??o Brasileira de Divulga??o Cient¨ªfica %R 10.1590/S0100-879X2011007500032 %X the relaxant effect of the methyl ester of rosuvastatin was evaluated on aortic rings from male wistar rats (250-300 g, 6 rats for each experimental group) with and without endothelium precontracted with 1.0 ¦Ìm phenylephrine. the methyl ester presented a slightly greater potency than rosuvastatin in relaxing aortic rings, with log ic50 values of -6.88 and -6.07 m, respectively. unlike rosuvastatin, the effect of its methyl ester was endothelium-independent. pretreatment with 10 ¦Ìm indomethacin did not inhibit, and pretreatment with 1 mm mevalonate only modestly inhibited the relaxant effect of the methyl ester. n¦Ø-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-name, 10 ¦Ìm), the selective nitric oxide-2 (no-2) inhibitor 1400 w (10 ¦Ìm), tetraethylammonium (tea, 10 mm), and cycloheximide (10 ¦Ìm) partially inhibited the relaxant effect of the methyl ester on endothelium-denuded aortic rings. however, the combination of tea plus either l-name or cycloheximide completely inhibited the relaxant effect. inducible no synthase (nos-2) was only present in endothelium-denuded aortic rings, as demonstrated by immunoblot with methyl ester-treated rings. in conclusion, whereas rosuvastatin was associated with a relaxant effect dependent on endothelium and hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase in rat aorta, the methyl ester of rosuvastatin exhibited an endothelium-independent and only slightly hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase-dependent relaxant effect. both no produced by nos-2 and k+ channels are involved in the relaxant effect of the methyl ester of rosuvastatin. %K rat aorta %K rosuvastatin methyl ester %K endothelium-independent relaxation %K potassium channels %K nos-2. %U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0100-879X2011000500009&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en