Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Pharmacology

Introduction: This study is an experimental study to investigate the possible memory protective role of insulin and simvastatin (at doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg/day) in a rat model of diabetes mellitus and dementia. Materials and methods: 100 healthy adult female albino rats weighing 200-250 gm were used and divided into two main groups. Group 1: control normoglycemic rats including 4 subgroups (10 rats/ each): Group 1a Untreated rats were left to the end of the experiment, Group 1b rats received volume of 0.5 ml (0.1 M) sodium citrate buffer single intraperitoneal injection, Group 1c rats received simvastatin 10 mg/kg/day by oral gavage and Group 1d rats received simvastatin 20 mg/kg/day by oral gavage. Group 2 Diabetic animals where DM was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 60 mg/kg body weight. This group included 6 subgroups: Group 2a untreated rats, Group 2b Insulin treated rats, Group 2c Simvastatin treated rats in a dose of 10 mg/kg/day orally, Group 2d Simvastatin treated rats in a dose of 20 mg/kg/day orally, Group 2e Insulin+simvastatin (10 mg/kg/day) treated rats, Group 2f Insulin+simvastatin (20 mg/kg/day) treated rats. Treatment started after rise of blood glucose and continued for 6 weeks. To detect behavioral changes (long and short memory whether spatial or non-spatial), Morris water maze test was done 4 times; before induction of DM and every 2 weeks and Y maze test was held after 6 weeks at the end of the experiment. Serum samples were obtained from the retro-orbital sinus for measuring glucose, cholesterol and insulin levels

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