Inhibition by probucol of interleukin 1 secretion and its implication in atherosclerosis.

Intravenous injection of 1.5 mg of acetylated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or 100 micrograms of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to zymosan-primed mice induced a decrease in serum zinc levels measured 6 hours after injection, suggesting the release of interleukin 1 (IL-1). Oral administration of probucol, 100 mg/kg once daily for 14 days, inhibited the LPS-induced fall in serum zinc levels, suggesting inhibition of IL-1 release. Direct evidence for inhibition of IL-1 release by probucol was obtained with an ex vivo system in which, compared with controls, peritoneal macrophages from probucol-treated mice (100 mg/kg orally X 3, or 0.25% in the diet for 3 weeks) secreted 80 to 90% less IL-1 upon LPS stimulation, measured by the C3H/HeJ thymocyte proliferation assay. Inhibition of IL-1 secretion by probucol may contribute to the therapeutic effect of probucol in atherosclerosis since as little as 1 unit of recombinant IL-1 beta was found to induce proliferation of aortic smooth muscle cells. With regard to the endogenous stimulus for IL-1 secretion, oxidized LDL is a putative candidate because it is capable of stimulating peritoneal macrophages to secrete IL-1. Because oxidized LDL is involved in the transformation of macrophages to foam cells, our data on IL-1 induction by oxidized LDL and the mitogenic effect of IL-1 on aortic smooth muscle cells suggest that activated macrophages play an important role in atherogenesis.