Effect of sodium hydrodextran sulfate on experimental arteriosclerosis in spontaneously hypertensive rats

In order to examine the effect of sodium hydrodextran sulfate (HDS) on experimental atherosclerosis spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar rats (NR) were fed a high-fat diet with and without the drug. Blood samples were collected for 5 months to measure serum levels of cholesterol, triglyceride and clearing factor lipase activity. Effect of HDS on certain blood factors were as follows: 1) HDS inhibited the increase of serum cholesterol levels in rats. 2) HDS did not change the triglyceride concentration. 3) HDS elevated the clearing factor lipase activity. 4) A high-fat diet increased the intimal thickening of arteries in SHR. 5) Intimal thickening of arteries decreased slightly in the HDS treated group.