Figure 3.

Cumulative concentration response curves for acetylcholine-induced relaxation of aortic rings from diabetic rats after four weeks treatment with atorvastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin (10 mg/kg per day). Aortic rings were precontracted with 0.1 μmol/L norepinephrine (NE) before the addition of cumulative concentrations of ACh. Note that the addition of 1 mmol/L L-NAME to the incubation bath inhibited ACh-induced relaxation. The values shown are the means ± SEM of 10 animals per group. ^aP < 0.05 for E_MAX between untreated diabetic rats and treated diabetic rats. AV: Atorvastatin; SV: Simvastatin; PV: Pravastatin; ACh: Acetylcholine.