Abstract: [Abstract]   Objective  To observe different doses of rosuvastatin on circulating endothelial progenitor cells at 24 hours before coronary angiography (CAG), and to explore the mechanism of therapeutic benefit of high-dose statin before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods   Forty-two cases who were to undergo CAG were randomly divided into two groups: 10 mg group (n=20) and 20 mg group (n=22). All subjects took rosuvastatin at a draught. Before treatment and 24 hours after treatment (before CAG), flow cytometry was used to test the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells(CEPCs). According to the results of CAG, the two groups were respectively divided into two subgroups:coronary artery disease (CHD) group and CAG negative group. Results  After treatment, the numbers of CEPCs in two groups were not significantly changed (10 mg group：49.95±24.57 vs 42.95±21.18, P > 0.05; 20 mg group：57.68±17.62 vs 48.32±22.47, P > 0.05).There was no significant difference in the changed number of CEPCs between 10 mg group and 20 mg group (7.00±18.94 vs 9.36±22.44, P > 0.05). The subgroup analysis showed that the number of CEPCs was significantly increased in CHD group than before treatment with 20 mg rosuvastatin（56.92±12.27 vs 42.08±21.27 , P < 0.05). Conclusion   Taking 20 mg rosuvastatin in patients with CHD at 24 h before PCI increases the number of CEPCs, which may be one of the mechanisms of benefit of high-dose statin therapy before PCI.

Key words: Coronary diseases, angioplasty, transluminal, percutaneous coronary, endothelial cells, flow cytometry, Rosuvastatin, 流式细胞术