Fluvastatin and simvastatin prevent TNF-α and MMP-9 production and cell spreading in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7.

<p>(<b>A</b>) RAW264.7 cells were untreated (-) or cultured for 24 h in the absence or presence of increasing concentrations of fluvastatin (Fluv) or simvastatin (Simv) and stimulated for 15 min with 1 µg/ml LPS (+). The cells were lysed and levels of IκBα were examined by immunoblotting. Anti-actin blots show that comparable amounts of protein were loaded in each lane. (<b>B</b>) RAW264.7 cells were cultured in the absence or presence of increasing concentrations of fluvastatin (top) or simvastatin (bottom), and stimulated for 5 h with 0.1 µg/ml LPS (+). Activities of MMP-9 in culture supernatants were analyzed by gelatin zymography. (<b>C</b>) RAW264.7 cells were untreated (-) or cultured in the absence or presence of increasing concentrations of fluvastatin (left) or simvastatin (right) and stimulated for 5 h with 0.1 µg/ml LPS (+). Concentrations of TNF-α in culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. (<b>D</b>) RAW264.7 cells were untreated (Cont, control) or cultured in the absence or presence of 5 µM fluvastatin or simvastatin and stimulated for 4 h with 0.1 µg/ml LPS, and then stained and photographed (upper panel). Scale bar, 100 µm. Percentages of spread cells were determined according to their longest diameters (lower panel). Each bar represents the mean ± SEM. ^⋆<i>P</i> < 0.05; ^{⋆ ⋆}<i>P</i> < 0.01.