Prazosin lowers plasma triglyceride concentration in rats: a preliminary report.

Prazosin was administered by intraperitoneal injection (0.3 or 3.0 mg/kg) to normal chow-fed male rats for 14 days. Mean +/- SEM plasma triglyceride levels were lower (p less than 0.001) in the prazosin-treated rats (74 +/- 12 mg/dl and 72 +/- 9 mg/dl) than in saline-injected control rats (115 +/- 11 mg/dl). This effect was associated with commensurate reductions in very low density lipoprotein-triglyceride secretion in prazosin-treated rats. No changes were noted in either plasma total or high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. In addition, prazosin was capable of reducing by approximately 50% the elevation in plasma triglyceride concentration produced by a high glucose diet in control rats. The mechanism of the observed effect of prazosin on very low density lipoprotein metabolism in the rat remains to be defined.