Toxicity of lovastatin in rats with experimentally induced nephrotic syndrome

The effect of lovastatin on the hyperlipidemia induced in rats with experimental nephrotic syndrome was investigated; toxicity and the effects on common blood chemistry parameters were also assessed. Hyperlipoproteinemia in this particular model is associated with an increase in hepatic synthesis of lipoproteins, and treatment with lovastatin could be the most suitable, since the drug inhibits cellular cholesterol synthesis. Lovastatin treatment resulted in a considerable reduction in plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The decrease in cholesterol levels with treatment was mainly confined to the low-density lipoproteins (LDL) although there was a reduction in the nephrotic-syndrome-induced incremental level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Other lipoprotein fractions were unaffected by lovastatin. LDL apoprotein B was increased in both groups of rats, but to a lesser degree in the lovastatin-treated group, suggesting a double effect, inhibition of both, cholesterol and apoprotein synthesis. Both groups of rats showed a certain degree of renal impairment as shown by significant elevations in plasma urea and creatinine levels. Hepatic damage was also observed, chemically and microscopically, in both groups of rats, being more pronounced in those rats treated with lovastatin in which a 50% mortality ensued after 2 weeks of treatment. At the dosage used this may have some implications in its therapeutic use in certain conditions.