IN-VITRO EVALUATION OF PLEIOTROPIC PROPERTIES OF ROSUVASTATIN

Rosuvastatin, a selective and competitive inhibitor of enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, is marked as a first-choice drug amongst lipid-lowering agents because of its unique pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties. An additional advantage of rosuvastatin administration is its specific, non-lipid pleiotropic properties, which are considered promising new fields of research for potential new therapeutic implications of this class of drugs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial activity of rosuvastatin with the application of the most commonly used in-vitro assays. Rosuvastatin was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide and prepared as a range of different concentrations. The activity of rosuvastatin was compared to well-known antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial agents. For determination of antioxidant activity, a spectro-photometric DPPH radical scavenging assay was used, while inhibition of heat-induced protein denaturation was used for evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of tested rosuvastatin solutions. Evaluation of antimicrobial activity was performed with the application of agar-well diffusion assay against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as the fungi. The results of this in-vitro study suggest that tested rosuvastatin solutions at various concentrations demonstrate antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. Present findings indicate that the expression of pleiotropic properties of rosuvastatin is dependent upon the concentration of rosuvastatin. However, it should be noted that findings from this study are restricted to in-vitro assays, and there is clearly a need for carrying further research involving in-vivo models.