Correlation of Ultrastructural, Morphometric and Biochemical Changes in Rats after Treatment with the Hypolipidemic Drugs Clofibrate and Probucol
It was our goal to evaluate the reliability and reproducibility of semi-automated morphometric techniques in the analysis of structural changes observed during drug safety assessment. Studies are presented to correlate the ultrastructural, morphometric and biochemical effects that the two hypolipidemic agents, clofibrate and probucol, produce in rats.Charles River CD Sprague-Dawley derived male rats (200-225 g body wt.) were used for the three studies performed. In studies I and II, clofibrate was administered as a dietary admixture to approximate a dosage of 300 mg/kg/day for six days. In study III, clofibrate and probucol were given as dietary admixtures to approximate dosages of 300 and 250 mg/kg/day respectively for fourteen days. Processing of hepatic specimens for electron microscopy included fixation in 1.3% sym-collidine buffered osmium tetroxide, ethanol dehydration and Epon embedment. Thin sections (600Å) were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. Survey and photography was performed in the manner according to Weibel. Final prints (14,400x) were analyzed with a Zeiss MOP for morphometric quantitation.