Pharmacological profile of tazasubrate, a new cholesterol-lowering agent.

The properties of tazasubrate (2-phenyl-2-[(6-ethoxy-2-benzothiazolyl)thio]propionic acid), a potent hypocholesterolemic agent, were studied in rats. Tazasubrate was found to be a reliable and highly effective hypocholesterolemic agent. There was a marked and reproducible reduction of serum cholesterol in various rat models differing in age, sex and diet, an improvement of the pathological lipoprotein pattern, slight but variable effects on serum triglycerides and phospholipids, no accumulation of intermediates of cholesterol biosynthesis, no inhibition of phospholipid metabolism (i.e. no induction of phospholipidosis), no interaction with the thyroid gland, and in contrast to fibrates, only minimal induction of peroxisomes in hepatocytes.