The effect of simvastatin in pancreas of diabetic rats

Abstract

Growing evidences suggest that statins exert several cholesterol-independent pleiotropic effects in diabetes, but there is no consensus whether they are positive or negative. To shed more light on this issue, we examined the effect of simvastatin on β-cell regeneration in a diabetic state. Diabetes was induced in male Mill Hill rats with a single alloxan dose (120 mg/kg). Both non-diabetic and diabetic groups were additionally separated into two subgroups: treated with simvastatin (5 mg/kg/day, i.g., 12 days) and control. Treatment of diabetic animals started after diabetes induction (glucose level ≥ 12 mmol/L). Our findings revealed that there is no increase in the area of insulin-immunopositive cells neither normalization of serum insulin level after simvastatin treatment of diabetic animals, although simvastatin increased nuclear immunopositivity for pancreas duodenum homeobox-1 (PDX-1) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). The data from this study suggest that 12-day treatment with simvastatin did not improve diabetes- induced disturbances in β-cell mass/function.