Effect of amiodarone on blood lipids

Amiodarone is a potent antiarrhythmic drug with a prolonged half life. The administration of amiodarone for 6 weeks in rabbits caused a significant elevation of serum lipids. We measured serum lipoproteins in 24 patients before, 30 and 90 days after treatment with amiodarone. Serum triglycerides decreased for all patients from 140.1 +/- 11.6 to 122.7 +/- 10.2 (p less than 0.05) whilst total cholesterol decreased from 211.4 +/- 19.5 to 194.4 +/- 13.3 (p = 0.08) in female patients only. There was no change in high density lipoprotein concentrations. These data are in contrast to those found in rabbits and are probably due to the smaller doses of amiodarone used on our patients.