Effects of intraperitoneal administration of simvastatin on collagen deposition, inflammation level and wound tension in an experimental incisional wound model

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Wound healing is an important component of all surgical operations. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of intraperitoneal administration of simvastatinon collagen deposition, inflammation level, and wound tension in an experimental wound healing model.METHODS: The study was carried out on 36 rats, divided into three groups. The primary repair of abdominal wall midline incision was determined as a wound-healing model.High-dose simvastatin (5 mg/kg/day) was administered intraperitoneally for14 days preoperatively in group 1, low-dose of simvastatin (1 mg/kg/day) was administered in group 2 rats, and the placebo solution was given to group 3. Rats were compared in terms of tensile strength, level of collagen, and inflammation scores.RESULTS: Although tensile strength of rats in group 1 was lower than those in other groups, this difference was not significant (p = 0.058). Type I and type III collagen level were significantly different between groups (p = 0.011 and p = 0.002; respectively). The post-hoc test revealed that group 1 rats had significantly higher type I collagen level than those of group 3 rats (2.18 ± 0.75 vs. 1.25 ± 0.45; p = 0.006). The type III collagen in group 1 and group 2 were also significantly higher than that in group 3 (2.27 ± 0.78 vs. 1.16 ± 0.38, p = 0.002; 1.90 ± 0.70 vs. 1.16 ± 0.38; p = 0.015). However, inflammation scores were not different between the groups (p = 0.186).DİSCUSSION and CONCLUSION: Although high-dose simvastatin significantly increased type I and type III collagen levels; tensile strength and inflammation score among the three groups of rats were not significantly different.