Impaired Glucose Homeostasis Accompanies Cellular Changes in Endocrine Pancreas after Atorvastatin Administration.

Atorvastatin (ATOR) has been reported to increase the risk for diabetes mellitus. Therefore, in the current study, we focused on studying the effect of ATOR on the structure of islets of Langerhans including their various cellular components as well as on glucose homeostasis. We detected a statistically significant increase (P < 0.05) in β-cell mass and percentage with a significant decrease in α-cell area and percentage in animals that received ATOR compared to control ones. In addition, a statistically significant increase (P < 0.05) in the β-cell proliferation was observed in the ATOR group with negligible change in expression of inflammatory cytokines of the islets. A significant downregulation in apoptosis alongside a significant upregulation in anti-apoptosis were detected in islets of animals treated with ATOR. Moreover, there was a significant impairment in various parameters of glucose homeostasis in the ATOR-treated group. Therefore, ATOR may induce insulin resistance-like state that was demarcated at cellular as well as at biochemical levels with little or no inflammatory response.