Abstract:Aim To observe the expression of Cyr61 and the effect of atorvastatin on Cyr61 expression in abdominal artery after balloon injury and explore the mechanism of intimal hyperplasia inhibition in injuried arteries by atorvastatin. Methods Intimal hyperplasia was studied by histological morphology method and the expressions of tissue Cyr61 was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot at different time-points in abdominal artery of rabbits with balloon injury. Results Intimal hyperplasia was present at day 7 after balloon injury, obvious thickening at day 14 and continue thickening after 28 days, neointimal thickness was uneven, significantly different than that in the control group. The expressions of Cyr61 detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot increased significantly after balloon injury at day 7 and at day 14, and these results were significantly different from control group (P<0.01). The expression of Cyr61 decreased significantly after inhibited by atorvastatin at day 7 and at day 14 were significantly different between atorvastatin group and injury group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference of the expression of Cyr61 between the balloon injury group and atorvastatin group at day 28 (P>0.05). Conclusions Cyr61 expressed obviously in injury group, but these expressions were inhibited significantly in atorvastatin group. This outcome indicated that Cyr61 may play an important role in intimal hyperplasia. Atorvastatin can inhibit the expression of Cyr61, which suggested that atorvastatin may inhibit intimal hyperplasia by decreasing the expressions of Cyr61.