ABSTRACT
This chapter describes alterations in lipid metabolism after 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure, and focuses on lipid changes in laboratory rats. To observe changes in lipid parameters resulting from TCDD exposure, several initial determinations have been made. The relationship between the hyperlipidemic or fatty liver formation and TCDD-induced mortality is not known. The effects of 4-aminopyrazolo[3,4-cnpyrimidine (4APP) and adenine hemisulfate (Ad) on TCDD-induced mortality were examined by monitoring body weight loss and mean time to death in rats. Body weight changes are a good indicator for predicting nonsurvival after lethal doses of TCDD. Lipid changes associated with 4APP and Ad were compared 10 days after the rats were exposed to a single oral dose of corn oil or TCDD in corn oil (325 u.g/kg). The reduction of serum triglyceride by 4APP in the TCDD rats indicates that the elevated level of circulating triglyceride is essential to the energy metabolism of the TCDD-stressed rats.
