DRUG-INDUCED RETINAL LIPIDOSIS - DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITIES OF PIGMENT EPITHELIUM AND NEURORETINA TOWARD SEVERAL AMPHIPHILIC CATIONIC DRUGS

A series of various cationic amphiphilic drugs induces generalized storage of polar lipids. In the present investigation, the effects upon rat retina of four lipidosis-inducing drugs (triparanol, chloroquine, 4,4′-diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol, and chlorcyclizine) were studied and compared. Albino rats were treated with high oral drug doses (ranging from 50 to 150 mg/kg) for several weeks. Basically all drugs induced lipidosis-like retinal changes but with great differences in the distributional pattern of the alterations throughout the retinal layers. Triparanol affected only the pigment epithelium and Müller cells. Chloroquine and 4,4′-diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol affected mainly the sensory retina (neurons and Müller cells). Chlorcyclizine changed both the pigment epithelium and the sensory retina to similar degrees. These differences are tentatively suggested to be due to differential affinities of the drugs to individual polar lipids. © 1978.