Özet:
Inflammatory bowel diseases are characterized by disabilities in gastrointestinal system and defects in mucosal
immune system. Statins are 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor and are used to
treat hypercholesterolemia in patients with coronary artery and atherosclerotic diseases. Recent studies have
demonstrated that statins have immunomodulatory role by effecting different pathways in immune system. In this
study, we investigated the effect of atorvastatin and its mechanism on systemic immune response in treatment of
trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis mice. We observed that atorvastatin significantly suppressed
the severity of TNBS-induced colitis in BALB/c mice. This was manifested in reduced rectal bleeding, decrease
in colon length, reduction of histological damage, and improved survival. Concurrently, we investigated the
immunomodulatory role of atorvastatin on systemic immune system. We investigated the proinflammatory (IL-1α,
IL-6, TNF-α), Th1 (IFN-γ, IL-2), Th2 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10), and Th17 (IL-17, IL-23) cytokine levels in serum samples of colitis
and atorvastatin-administered mice. We discovered that administration of atorvastatin significantly down-regulates
systemic TNF-α level and Th17 cytokine levels. Furthermore, atorvastatin treatment switches Th1 type T-cell response
toward/to Th2 (IL-4, IL-10) type response.
