Simvastatin induces autophagic flux to restore cerulein-impaired phagosome-lysosome fusion in acute pancreatitis

During pancreatitis, autophagy is activated, but lysosomal degradation of dysfunctional organelles including mitochondria is impaired, resulting in acinar cell death. Retrospective cohort analyses demonstrated an association between simvastatin use and decreased acute pancreatitis incidence.We examined whether simvastatin can protect cell death induced by cerulein and the mechanisms involved during acute pancreatitis. Mice were pretreated with...