Morphological changes in the liver of rats treated with a new hypolipidemic agent, S-8527

Abstract Electron microscopy was used to investigate the effect of a new hypolipidemic agent, 1,1-bis[4′-(1″-carboxy-1″-methylpropoxy)-phenyllcyclohexane (S-8527), on the fine structure of hepatocytes of rats, treated with oral doses of S-8527 for 2, 3 or 14 weeks, and the effect was compared with that of clofibrate. Daily doses of 150 or 300 mg/kg of S-8527 caused a qualitatively similar pattern of changes in cell organelles to that caused by clofibrate, such as increased number and size of microbodies, proliferation of tubules and vesicles of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) and deformation of mitochondria. At the same dose level, S-8527 appeared to cause an equal grade of changes to those caused by clofibrate, whereas there was no marked change at dose levels of 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg of S-8527. S-8527 was also found to cause less increase in relative liver and a more marked hypolipidemic result than clofibrate.