Simvastatin Rapidly and Reversibly Inhibits Insulin Secretion in Intact Single-Islet Cultures

Epidemiological studies suggest that statins may promote the development or exacerbation of diabetes, but whether this occurs through inhibition of insulin secretion is unclear. This lack of understanding is partly due to the cellular models used to explore this phenomenon (cell lines or pooled islets), which are non-physiologic and have limited clinical transferability.

Here, we study the effect of simvastatin on insulin secretion using single-islet cultures, an optimal compromise between biological observability and physiologic fidelity. We develop and validate a microfluidic device to study single-islet function ex vivo, which allows for switching between media of different compositions with a resolution of seconds. In parallel, fluorescence imaging provides real-time analysis of the membrane voltage potential, cytosolic Ca²⁺ dynamics, and insulin release during perfusion under 3 or 11 mM glucose.

We found that simvastatin reversibly inhibits insulin secretion, even in high-glucose. This phenomenon is very rapid (<60 s), occurs without affecting Ca²⁺ concentrations, and is likely unrelated to cholesterol biosynthesis and protein isoprenylation, which occur on a time span of hours.

Our data provide the first real-time live demonstration that a statin inhibits insulin secretion in intact islets and that single islets respond differently from cell lines on a short time scale.

University of Padova, EASD Foundation.