Objective: Examining the effects of simvastatin on skeletal muscles in an experimental model of abdominal sepsis in rats through the biodistribution of 99mTc-sestamibi. Methods: Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 2 groups: with abdominal sepsis (n = 12) and without sepsis (n = 12). Six animals with sepsis and 6 controls were injected with a daily dose of 5 mg/kg/day of simvastatin by gavage for 3 days before induction of peritonitis and 4 hours before surgical procedure. The others received 1ml of 0.9% saline solution orally. The animals were anesthetized with 20mg/kg of xylazine and 50mg/kg of ketamine i.p. Cecal ligation and puncture were performed by laparotomy. The rats were under observation for 24 hours and their survival time was recorded. The animals were re-anesthetized and 0.1 ml of 99mTc-sestamibi was administered by i.v. 30 minutes later,the thigh muscle was biopsied for percentage of radioactivity per gram of tissue (ATI%/g) determination, measured by the automatic gamma counter Wizard Counter, PerkinElmer,Finland. Results: ATI%/g of Tc99m-sestamibi was higher in muscle samples of groups treated with simvastatin sepsis ((1.820.21), compared with saline-treated (1.070.19) and control groups (1.180.31;1.260.24); this is a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Conclusion: The data resulting from this study allows for concluding that the pre-treatment with simvastatin contributed to a biodistribution increase of 99mTc-sestamibi into the skeletal muscle in the abdominal sepsis model in rats.

Cryptosporidiosis is a very prominent disease in the fi eld of public health, and usually causes diarrhea. We describe two immunocompetent patients who presented with chronic diarrhea that was ultimately found to be caused by continuous exposure to well water contaminated with the microbial cysts (oocysts) of the Cryptosporidium spp parasite. We describe the patients' histories and possible explanations for their prolonged symptoms.