Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Simvastatin suppresses cerebral aneurysm in rats through suppression of release of pro-inflammatory cytokines

Congcong Chen¹, Hongdan Wei², Jiawen Song³, Xiaona Zhang⁴

¹Department of Pharmacy, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China; ²Department of Pharmacy, Huzhou Third People's Hospital, Huzhou, Zhejiang 313000, China; ³Department of Pharmacy, Lishui People's Hospital, Lishui, Zhejiang 323000, China; ⁴Department of Stomatology, The 906th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China.

For correspondence:- Xiaona Zhang Email: xianazhang84@gmail.com Tel:+8657756989991

Accepted: 2 May 2022 Published: 31 May 2022

Citation: Chen C, Wei H, Song J, Zhang X. Simvastatin suppresses cerebral aneurysm in rats through suppression of release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(5):965-971 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i5.9

© 2022 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the protective effect of simvastatin (SA) against onset of cerebral aneurysm-mediated inflammatory cytokine release and subsequent inflammation and degradation of the extracellular matrix of smooth muscle cells.

Methods: Cerebral aneurysm was induced in male Wistar rats using elastase injection, and aneurysm growth was monitored for one month following SA treatment. Inhibition of aneurysm growth was determined along with the expression levels of chemokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-8, IL-1β, IL-17, IL-6, macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Results: Aneurysm size decreased in rats treated with SA, relative to values obtained for control rats (p < 0.05). The corresponding expressions of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines were also reduced following pre-treatment with SA (p < 0.05). The results indicate a reduction in the aneurysm area in rats pre-treated with SA, when compared to the untreated animals (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: SA treatment inhibits the progression of cerebral aneurysms via its protective effect against inflammation, indicating its potential for use in the prevention and treatment of cerebral aneurysms.

Keywords: Simvastatin, Intracranial aneurysm, TNF-?, Cerebral