title: Simvastatin decreases incidence of decompression sickness in rats.
abstract: Decompression sickness (DCS) is a specific diving injury which sometimes may be life-threatening. Previous studies suggested that simvastatin (SIM) can protect against pathological inflammation and tissue damage. This study aimed to investigate whether SIM pretreatment could exert its beneficial effects on DCS. SIM was administered orally to adult male Sprague-Dawley rats for two weeks (2 mg/kg/day), then rats were subjected to a simulated dive at 700 kPa air pressure for 100 minutes before rapid decompression. After 30 minutes of symptom observation, lung tissue and blood samples were collected for further analysis. Compared to the vehicle-control, SIM pretreatment significantly decreased the incidence of DCS and ameliorated all parameters of pulmonary injuries, including lung dry/wet weight ratio, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid protein concentration, lung tissue malondialdehyde level and morphology. Moreover, SIM pretreatment abolished increases in systemic and pulmonary inflammation by reducing tumor necrosis factor-α levels in blood plasma and lung tissue. The results indicate that SIM may offer a novel pharmacological protection against injuries in DCS rats by inhibiting inflammatory responses. Further study is needed to understand the exact mechanisms.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jiajun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Runping
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhiyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Petar J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Denoble
authors.forename: Yiqun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Weigang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D003664:Decompression / Q000379:methods; D003665:Decompression Sickness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015994:Incidence; D007249:Inflammation / Q000517:prevention & control; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008168:Lung / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000032:analysis; D009929:Organ Size; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000517:prevention & control; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000175:diagnosis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019821:Simvastatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D008055:Lipids; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D019821:Simvastatin