Studies on drug-induced lipidosis: VII. Effects of bis-beta-diethyl-aminoethylether of hexestrol, chloroquine, homochlorocyclizine, prenylamine, and diazacholesterol on the lipid composition of rat liver and kidney.

4,4'-Bis (beta-diethylaminoethoxy)-alpha, beta-diethyldiphenylethane (DH), which had been shown to induce a type of lipidosis resembling Niemann-Pick disease, was given to rats at a dose of 20, 50, 100, and 150 mg/kg body weight per day for 1 or 2 weeks. An enlargement of the liver with marked increases in free cholesterol, total phospholipids, and phosphatidylinositol took place by administration of a larger dose. The increase in bis (monoacylglyceryl) phosphate (BMGP), which is peculiar to this kind of drug-induced lipidosis, was dependent upon the dose of the drug as well as the length of time. Similar changes were also observed in kidney. Among several other drugs tested, chloroquine and diazacholesterol brought on as much increase in BMGP as treatment with DH.