The cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin doesn’t get into the fatty plaques in arteries — so it must be working by lowering cholesterol in the blood, not by directly touching the immune cells inside the plaque.

A common cholesterol drug called atorvastatin can reduce the growth of leaky new blood vessels inside artery plaques, even when it doesn’t lower cholesterol much—this might help prevent plaques from bursting.

Statins do not induce significant regression of established atherosclerotic plaque but reduce plaque progression and enhance plaque stability by lowering LDL cholesterol exposure to arterial walls.

Atorvastatin doesn’t just lower bad cholesterol — it also lowers overall cholesterol and a key protein linked to heart disease, and higher doses make these effects stronger.

Even without niacin, statins alone can shrink plaque in the neck arteries of older adults with heart disease, as long as their bad cholesterol is kept low.

Atorvastatin helps make the new blood vessels inside artery plaques less leaky by helping support cells stick better and sealing gaps between vessel lining cells, which may stop bleeding inside the plaque.