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Figure 4 Percent changes of plasma cholesterol levels (solid circles) and neointima-media ratio (solid squares) after balloon injury in rats treated with different simvastatin doses. It is evident that simvastatin reduced the cholesterol levels by  20%, independent of the simvastatin dose used. In contrast, at the same level of cholesterol reduction, the effect on the neointima-media ratio after balloon dilation was more pronounced after increasing the simvastatin doses. This finding, together with the in vitro data, strongly suggests that the beneficial effect of simvastatin on the vascular response to injury is not dependent only on cholesterol level reduction. *p < 0.05 vs. control group. #p < 0.001 vs. control group and treatment with 0.04, 4 and 16 mg/kg simvastatin.
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