The effect of sustained delivery of danazol and antioxidants on lipoprotein profiles of adult female mice.

The specific objectives of this study were: (i) to investigate the relationship between Danazol alone or in combination with tocopherol acetate (TA) and lipoprotein profiles using adult female mice as a model, and (ii) to study the effect of sustained delivery of D+TA versus injections on the lipoprotein profiles. D was given (alone or in combination with TA) to adult female mice (n = 52) in levels of 2 and 6 ng for 4 weeks, and the morphological evaluation as well as serum lipoprotein was analyzed. The results showed that the use of D at dosages ranging between 2-6 ng alone or in combination with physiological dose of TA induced suppression of ovarian weight, presumably by inhibiting gonadotropin secretion, and enlargement of uterine hornes. Histopathological evaluation demonstrated that the uterus of mice in every group that received D increased in weight 5 to 7 fold as compared with the sham operated controls. Uterine enlargement was characterized by a thickened stroma and muscular wall and by a heightened columnar epithelium. Serum lipoprotein analysis revealed that D or D+TA treatment decreased total cholesterol by a range of 3-9%, apo A-1 by 3-11%, apo A-11 by 2-13% and HDL-Chol fell by 6-53%. In contrast, LDL-Chol increased by 2-12% in all animals treated with D or D+TA. Lipoprotein electrophoresis indicated an elevated beta-lipoprotein band in the animals treated with D and no significant change observed in D+TA treated animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)