Figure 2.

Simvastatin inhibited the apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells in LPS-induced inflammation by down-regulating cleaved caspase-3 expression (arrows) mainly in the alveolar epithelial cells. Representative images of pulmonary parenchyma that were challenged with LPS or pretreated with 20 mg/kg of simvastatin or 40 mg/kg of simvastatin, respectively, prior to LPS, assessed by immunohistochemistry (400×). (a) Control group. (b) Intense cytoplasmic staining of cleaved caspase 3 in alveolar epithelium, macrophages, and endothelial cells in the LPS group. Marked reduction of apoptotic alveolar epithelial cells in the groups pretreated with 20 mg/kg of simvastatin (c) and 40 mg/kg of simvastatin prior to LPS (d).