Figure 4.

Resistance to excitotoxicity was prevented by coincubation with either mevalonate or cholesterol. In the experiment shown on the left side of the bar graph, before NMDA exposure, cortical cultures were left untreated, treated for 6 d with 100 nm simvastatin alone, or treated with both simvastatin and either 1 mm mevalonate or 50 μm cholesterol. NMDA-induced LDH release after cotreatment with simvastatin and either mevalonate or cholesterol was increased compared with NMDA-induced LDH release after treatment with simvastatin alone. In the experiment shown on the right side of the bar graph, cultures were treated with vehicle or cholesterol for 6 d before NMDA exposure. Cholesterol treatment increased NMDA-induced LDH release. §, p < 0.001; ‡, p < 0.01.