Inhibitory Effect of Cortisone Hyperlipemia on Arterial Lipid Deposition in Cholesterol-Fed Rabbits.

Summary Administration of cortisone to rabbits caused hyperlipemia due chiefly to an increase of lipids other than cholesterol and phospholipid. Cholesterol-fed rabbits treated with cortisone developed severer degrees of hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipemia than rabbits on cholesterol alone. The relative proportion of cholesterol in the serum lipids of cholesterol-fed rabbits on cortisone was less than in the serum lipids of rabbits on cholesterol alone. Significantly less lipid was deposited in the arteries of the cortisone-treated, cholesterol-fed animals than in the cholesterol-fed controls. It is suggested that hyperlipemias in which the lipid fractions other than cholesterol undergo the greatest increase, are less likely to be associated with arterial lipid deposition than hyperlipemic states in which cholesterol is the major constituent.