Antioxidant activity of simvastatin prevents L-arginine-induced acute toxicity of pancreas.

L-arginine is a semi-essential amino acid that found naturally in food. It has been shown that administration of large doses of L-arginine can induce acute pancreatitis. In the present study, we evaluated if simvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) inhibitor, might prevent acute pancreatitis induced by L-arginine.