Aim To investigate the effect of atorvastatin on serum Ang(1-7)concentration and p-ERK1/2 protein expression level in left ventricular hypertrophic myocardium in the hypertensive rats with abdominal aortic constriction,and to explore the underlying mechanism.Methods Fifty adult male SD rats were randomly divided into following five groups(n=10):sham group,model group,10 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group,30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin and 20 mg/(kg·d)valsartan group.Drugs were dissolved in physiological saline and orally administrated by gavage from day 1 after operation until four weeks.Systolic blood pressure(SBP)was taken before and after administration by 2 weeks and 4 weeks by tail-cuff method.Rats were sacrificed after 4 weeks,and body weight(BW),left ventricular weight(LVW),left ventricular weight index(LVWI)were measured;the average diameter of cardiomyocytes were measured and the changes of cardiac histopathology were observed by HE staining;serum Ang(1-7)concentration was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA);p-ERK1/2 protein expression level in myocardic tissue was detected by Western blotting.Results SBP in 10 mg/(kg·d)and 30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group were significantly lower than that in model group(P<0.01);SBP in 30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group was significantly lower than that in 10 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group(P<0.01);SBP in valsartan group was significantly lower than that in 10 mg/(kg·d)and 30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group(P<0.01).Compared with model group,LVWI was markedly higher than that among sham group,30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group and valsartan group(P<0.01).LVWI in 30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group was markedly lower than that in 10 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group(P<0.05).Compared with model group,mean diameter of cardiomyocytes were significantly higher than that among sham group,30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group and valsartan group(P<0.01);there was no difference of average diameter of cardiac myocytes between 10 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group and model group(P>0.05).Serum Ang(1-7)concentration in model group were markedly lower as compared to that among 10 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group,30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group and valsartan group(P<0.01).Serum Ang(1-7)concentration in 30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group and valsartan group were markedly higher as compared to that in 10 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group(P<0.05).Compared with model group,the expression of p-ERK1/2 protein among 10 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group,30 mg/(kg·d)atorvastatin group and valsartan group were significantly downregulated(P<0.01),but higher than that in sham group.Conclusion Atorvastatin can reverse myocardic remodel in the hypertensive rats with abdominal aortic constriction,which may be related to reducing p-ERK1/2 protein expression level in pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy tissue.