Effect of Streptomycin Therapy on Semm Lipid-Lipoprotein Profiles of Rabbits Infected with Mycobacterium bovis

Rabbits were inoculated iv with 0.01 mg of Mycobacterium bovis. During the first 17 days of infection, levels of lipids in serum increased, and these increases reflected increases of very low density lipoproteins and decreases of low density and high density lipoproteins. On day 17 after inoculation, the rabbits were divided into two groups of four animals each. In one group each rabbit received 100 mg of streptomycin in 0.5 ml of sterile water im once daily for 30 consecutive days; in the other group each rabbit received 0.5 ml of sterile water im once daily for the same period. In the rabbits treated with streptomycin, the concentrations of lipids and lipoproteins in serum returned to the preinfection levels by day 30 of therapy. Increased levels of lipids and lipoproteins persisted in the infected rabbits treated with water.