Acute protective effects of simvastatin in the rat model of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury: it is never too late for the pretreatment.

Acute pretreatment with a single i.v. bolus injection of simvastatin (1 mg/kg) significantly protects rat kidney injured by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) (45 min + 6 h). We aimed to determine the optimal timing of such a pretreatment. The effects of both injections of simvastatin before ischemia and reperfusion were similar regarding total histological score. However, simvastatin injected 30 min before ischemia was 30% - 75% more effective in reduction of serum creatinine levels and interstitial edema score, while its injections 5 and 30 min before reperfusion were 25% - 60% more effective in reduction of tubular necrosis score and fractional excretion of Na+. However, the observed differences do not seem to offer significant advantage in clinical settings.