The effect of simvastatin on the regeneration of surgical cavities in the femurs of rabbits

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evaluate the effect of a local application of simvastatin gel in repairing bone defects in the femurs of rabbits. METHODS:Two standard surgical cavities were created in the femoral epiphysis of 18 rabbits. In the simvastatin group (SG), the cavities were filled with a collagen sponge soaked in 0.5 ml of a simvastatin (1 mg) gel, and the cavities were covered with a biological membrane. The bone cavities in the second group (control group) were filled with a blood clot and covered with a biological membrane.On the 7 th, 21st and 42 nd days, six animals in each group were euthanized, and the femurs were subject to histological evaluation (vascularity, fibrosis, reactive bone formation, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts) and immunohistochemical (anti-VEGF and anti-osteocalcin) analysis.The results were analyzed using a Wilcoxon test (p<0.05). RESULTS:There were significant differences between the two groups: the SG had greater scores in comparison with the CG in terms of the degree of vascularity on the 7t h and the 21st days, fibrosis on the 21 st day, bone formation reaction on the 21 st and the 42 nd days and the number of osteoblasts and osteoclasts on the 42 nd day. The immunohistochemical expression was also greater for osteocalcin and VEGF on the 7 th, 21st and 42 nd days. CONCLUSION:Surgical defects created in rabbit femurs were treated locally with simvastatin gel to stimulate bone repair, which promoted an ameliorative effect in the morphological and immunohistochemical markers of bone regeneration.

Simvastatin induces adverse effects on proliferation and mineralization of human primary osteoblasts

“…In animal studies the influence on mineralization, osteogenic markers and viability of quiet equal concentrations of SV were investigated upon cells particularly of rodent origin [21][22][23][24][25][26][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

“…The examined cells were adipose tissue cells [ 13 , 14 ], myeloma cells [ 15 ], osteoblasts [ 16 – 18 ], alveolar fibroblasts [ 19 ] and bone marrow cells [ 20 ]. Pleiotropic effects have been reported like increased osteoblastic differentiation [ 20 – 22 ], promotion of the viability and proliferation of osteoblasts [ 16 , 23 ] and improvement of the mineralization [ 17 , 24 – 26 ].…”

Simvastatin and biphasic calcium phosphate affects bone formation in critical-sized rat calvarial defects

“…The results of studies describing the application of simvastatin for the formation of bone in different bone defects have been encouraging and its effects on bone metabolism may have a great potential in medicine and dentistry 13,17,21 . In the present study, simvastatin was applied with two distinct carriers in criticalsized calvarial defects and its impact on new bone formation was evaluated.…”

Prospective Role of Simvastatin on Wound Healing: Review of the Literature

“…Asai et al approved in his study that application of SIM topically caused accelerated diabetic wound healing via promotion of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis . A preformulation study was made to check the capability of SIM to be adminstrated in the form of transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) in controlled release manar using polymer like HPMC and Carbopol, to increase its bioavalability and decrease the dosing frequency; and the results showed that SIM can be suitable candidate for TDDS [44,45].…”