Figure 5

Simvastatin inhibits spontaneous TNF production from RA synovial membrane cultures that is not reversed by mevalonate. (A) RA synovial membrane cells were cultured in medium alone or medium containing 20 µg/mL simvastatin (**p < 0.0001). Data are shown from seven RA patient samples from separate donors. (B) RA synovial membrane cells were cultured for 24 h in the presence of simvastatin ± 1 µmol/L mevalonate. Supernatants were analyzed for TNF. (C) Effects of simvastatin ± 1 mmol/L mevalonate on cell viability were measured by MTT assay. Data shown in (B) and (C) are from triplicate cultures shown as the mean ± SD and are representative of three separate experiments in unrelated donors.