Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of atorvastatin against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in cardiomyocytes and its underlying mechanisms. The direct cytotoxic effects of oxygen‑glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) on cardiomyocytes with and without atorvastatin pretreatment were evaluated. The effects of atorvastatin on the expression of glycogen synthase kinase‑3β (GSK‑3β) and microRNA (miR)‑199a‑5p were determined using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR) and western blot analyses. In addition, the expression levels of GSK‑3β in cells with miR‑199a‑5p upregulation and downregulation were detected using RT‑qPCR, western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. Pretreatment with atorvastatin significantly improved the recovery of cell viability from OGD/R (P<0.05). In addition, atorvastatin pretreatment significantly increased the expression of GSK‑3β at the mRNA and protein levels, and the expression of miR‑199a‑5p at the mRNA level (all P<0.05). The upregulation and downregulation of miR‑199a‑5p respectively decreased and increased the expression of GSK‑3β at the mRNA and protein levels. These results suggested that atorvastatin provided cardioprotective effects against I/R injury via increasing the expression of GSK‑3β through the inhibition of miR‑199a‑5p.