PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Melania Muscas AU - Susana R. Louros AU - Emily K. Osterweil TI - Lovastatin, not Simvastatin, Corrects Core Phenotypes in the Fragile X Mouse Model AID - 10.1523/ENEURO.0097-19.2019 DP - 2019 May 01 TA - eneuro PG - ENEURO.0097-19.2019 VI - 6 IP - 3 4099 - http://www.eneuro.org/content/6/3/ENEURO.0097-19.2019.short 4100 - http://www.eneuro.org/content/6/3/ENEURO.0097-19.2019.full SO - eNeuro2019 May 01; 6 AB - The cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin corrects neurological phenotypes in animal models of fragile X syndrome (FX), a commonly identified genetic cause of autism and intellectual disability (ID). The therapeutic efficacy of lovastatin is being tested in clinical trials for FX; however, the structurally similar drug simvastatin has been proposed as an alternative due to an increased potency and brain penetrance. Here, we perform a side-by-side comparison of the effects of lovastatin and simvastatin treatment on two core phenotypes in Fmr1-/y mice versus WT littermates: excessive hippocampal protein synthesis and susceptibility to audiogenic seizures (AGSs). We find that simvastatin does not correct excessive hippocampal protein synthesis in the Fmr1-/y hippocampus at any dose tested. In fact, simvastatin significantly increases protein synthesis in both Fmr1-/y and WT. Moreover, injection of simvastatin does not reduce AGS in the Fmr1-/y mouse, while lovastatin significantly reduces AGS incidence and severity versus vehicle-treated animals. These results show that unlike lovastatin, simvastatin does not correct core phenotypes in the Fmr1-/y mouse model.