Statins, including rosuvastatin, are drugs that lower plasma cholesterol and prevent
atherosclerotic disease. Recent preclinical evidence suggests that statins also increase
tissue tolerance to ischemia-reperfusion injury.
This is a randomized, double blind, parallel designed study comparing the effect of 1 week
treatment with rosuvastatin (20 mg, once a day) with placebo on forearm ischemia-reperfusion
injury in healthy male volunteers. Forearm ischemia-reperfusion injury is quantified with
Tc-99m-annexin A5 scintigraphy of the hands after a standardized ischemic exercise test. For
this purpose, Tc-99m-rh-annexin A5 (400 MBq; < 5 mSv) is injected intravenously upon
reperfusion, followed by scintigraphy of both hands with a gamma camera at 1 and 4 hours
after injection. Annexin A5 targeting is calculated as the percentage difference in activity
(counts/pixel) between the thenar muscles of both hands.