[Comparative study of the effects of probucol, fenofibrate and clofibrate on liver ultrastructure in rats (author's transl)].

The effects on rat liver of probucol (250 or 500 mg/kg/24 h), clofibrate (250 mg/kg/24 h) and fenofibrate (100 mg/kg/24 h) were compared after 28 days' treatment. Th bodyweight of animals treated with probucol 250 mg/kg/24 h has increased, as compared with a control group of untreated animals. The increase in liver weight and live weight/bodyweight ratio was greater in rats treated with clofibrate or fenofibrate than in rats treated with probucol. Cholesterol and triglyceride plasma levels were lower in clofibrate-treated animals. There were no changes in SGOT and SGPT in any of the three groups. Alkaline phosphatases were increased only in rats treated with clofibrate (these enzymes were not assayed in rats which received fenofibrate). Electron microscope study of liver sections showed the following changes in clofibrate--and fenofibrate-treated rats as compared with the control group: increase in smooth-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, ribosome detachment, slight glycogen depletion and increase in the number of peroxysomes. In the probucol-treated group, apart from an occasional increase in smooth-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, liver cells were identical with those of the control group; in particular, there was no increase in the number of peroxysomes.