Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Lateral Chronic Cranial Window Preparation Enables In Vivo Observation Following Distal Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Mice
Published on: December 29, 2016
Statin pre-treatment protects brain against focal cerebral ischemia in diabetic mice
Atil Cakmak1, Müge Yemişçi, Cüneyt Köksoy
1Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
Insights
Diabetes worsens stroke outcomes, but statin pre-treatment significantly reduces brain damage and neurological deficits in both diabetic and non-diabetic mice. This suggests statins may improve stroke outcomes for diabetic patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Endocrinology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Diabetes mellitus is linked to increased mortality and morbidity from cerebrovascular diseases.
- Statins are known to reduce stroke incidence in both diabetic and non-diabetic individuals.
- The impact of statins on stroke outcomes specifically in diabetic patients remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the protective effects of pre-treatment with statins against focal cerebral ischemia in a mouse model of diabetes.
Main Methods:
- Mice were divided into diabetic and non-diabetic groups.
- Diabetes was induced using streptozotocin.
- Groups received simvastatin or saline treatment before middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and reperfusion.
- Neurological deficits and infarct volume were assessed post-stroke.
Main Results:
- Diabetic mice exhibited significantly larger infarct volumes compared to non-diabetic mice.
- Statin pre-treatment markedly reduced infarct volume in both diabetic and non-diabetic groups.
- Neurological disability scores were significantly improved by statin pre-treatment in both groups.
Conclusions:
- Diabetes exacerbates ischemic brain damage following focal cerebral ischemia.
- Statin pre-treatment demonstrates a neuroprotective effect in both diabetic and healthy animal models.
- Statin therapy may offer benefits for stroke outcome in diabetic patients, beyond stroke incidence reduction.
Background:
Cerebrovascular diseases and other vascular complications are common and cause considerable mortality and morbidity in diabetes mellitus. Recent studies suggest that statins reduce the incidence of stroke in diabetic as well as non-diabetic patients. The outcome of stroke is shown to be worse in diabetics. However, the effect of statins on the outcome of stroke occurring in diabetics is not clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-treatment with statins on focal cerebral ischemia in diabetic mice.
Materials And Methods:
Swiss albino mice were randomized into two groups. Diabetes was induced in the first group by intravenous streptozotosin injection. The second group served as non-diabetic. After 4 weeks, half of the mice in diabetic and non-diabetic groups were randomized to receive intraperitoneal simvastatin 1 mg/kg/day or saline treatment for 14 days. Subsequently, mice were subjected to 90 min of proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion and 24 h of reperfusion. Sham-operation was also performed for each group. After 24 h of reperfusion, neurological deficits were scored and the infarct volume was measured on Nissl stained brain sections.
Results:
Infarct volume (median, interquartile range) was significantly increased in the diabetic group (60.7 mm(3)) compared to non-diabetic group (53.4 mm(3)). Statin pre-treatment significantly reduced the infarct volume (to 40.4; 33.5 mm(3), respectively) and neurological disability scores both in diabetic and non-diabetic groups.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that diabetes aggravates the ischemic damage after focal cerebral ischemia and statin pre-treatment protects the brain in diabetic as well as healthy animals. Statin treatment may favorably affect stroke outcome in diabetic patients in addition to decreasing stroke incidence.
