Effects of Methylprednisolone on Plasma Lipids and Aortic Mucopolysaccharides of Normal and Cholesterol-Fed Rabbits ∗

Summary

Methylprednisolone (Medrol) was administered to normal and cholesterolfed rabbits for a period of 2 months, and its effects upon plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and upon the content of aortic acid mucopolysaccharides (AMPS) were studied. Rabbits fed a chow diet developed both a hypercholesterolemia and a hypertriglyceridemia in response to Medrol, and the already elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels induced by cholesterol feeding were further elevated by Medrol. Despite the hyperlipemia, none of the Medrol-treated animals developed aortic atherosclerosis. Medrol had no significant effect upon the total aortic AMPS content in control animals but it did alter the aortic AMPS content and pattern of cholesterol-fed rabbits. The most significant effect was an increase in an AMPS of low sulfate content. Since all animals fed cholesterol developed some degree of pulmonary atherosclerosis, it is postulated that the antiatherogenic action of the hormone on the aorta is more closely related to alterations in the AMPS pattern than to changes in the pattern of circulating lipids.