Effects of simvastatin and alpha-tocopherol on disturbed nerve conduction in obese Sprague Dawley rats.

BACKGROUND The incidence of obesity is increasing worldwide. The neuropathy associated with obesity, that is evident from disturbed nerve conduction, is one of the complications for which a number of treatment options are being considered. In this study, Simvastatin, a hydroxyl methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor and alpha-tocopherol, a dietary antioxidant are compared for their effects on sciatic nerve conduction velocity. OBJECTIVES To compare the effects of Simvastatin and alpha-tocopherol on sciatic nerve conduction velocity in obese rats. METHODS The study was a Randomised control trial conducted from December 2008 to November 2009. One hundred and twenty adult male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups with 30 rats in each group. One group of rats was taken as control with normal diet while other three groups were given high fat diet (HFD) for the whole study period. Along with the high fat diet, group III and group IV were given Simvastatin and alpha-tocopherol supplemented diet respectively. At the end of study, conduction velocity of sciatic nerve was determined with the help of PowerLab data acquisition system. RESULTS The three groups with HFD showed more than 25% increase in weight at the end of study compared to control group. The control group with high fat diet (Group II) showed decreased sciatic nerve conduction velocity when compared with control (Group I). Both the groups that were given Simvastatin and alpha-tocopherol each showed improvement in sciatic nerve conduction velocity (p<0.001) after four weeks when compared with the group that was given HFD without any supplementation. However with alpha-tocopherol, the nerve conduction velocity was improved more significantly. CONCLUSIONS Simvastatin and alpha-tocopherol both are effective for improving sciatic nerve conduction velocity in HFD induced obesity.