Topical simvastatin enhances tissue regeneration in full-thickness skin wounds in rat models

Wounds and wound healing have always been one of the most important subjects that experimental researches were dedicated to. Simvastatin has been used for long as a common lipid lowering agent which was reported to have some pleiotropic effects such as antioxidation, anti-inflammation and immunomodulation. In this study we aimed to determine the effect of simvastatin on wound healing process in laboratory rats by means of stereological and histopathological analyses. 36 male Sprague-Dawley rats (220 ± 20 g) with a 1 cm(2) circular full-thickness wound on their back were divided into three groups: SS group that received a gel with 2% concentration of simvastatin; UW group that received no treatment but daily irrigation with normal saline; Base group that was treated with the gel base. Duration of the study was 12 days and at the end, wound closure rate, grade of inflammation, granulation-tissue formation, ulceration, epithelization, fibroblast proliferation, collagen-bundles synthesis, and vascularization were determined. Outcome of this study revealed that Simvastatin improves the wound healing by its anti-inflammatory and epithelization induction effect as well as statistically significant induction of fibroblast proliferation and collagen bundle synthesis which were reported by our stereological and histopathological investigations. Results of the present study demonstrated that topical Simvastatin enhances the wound healing process through affecting different aspects of tissue regeneration; however, further researches are needed to find the exact mechanism, advantages and disadvantages of this chemical agent.