Effects of calcium antagonists on low density lipoprotein metabolism in human arterial smooth muscle cells.

Human arterial smooth muscle cells were used to study the effects of calcium antagonists on cellular interactions with iodinated human low density lipoprotein ([125I]LDL). Both verapamil and nicardipine inhibited the degradation of internalized LDL, and as a result, facilitated the intracellular accumulation of LDL without accompanying the change in receptor binding of LDL. These results suggest that the effectiveness of calcium antagonists in improvement of atherosclerosis might not be due to the improvement of LDL metabolism against atherogenesis.