The bile acid binding and hypocholesterolemic activity of anion—exchange resins bearing the imidazolium salt group

Abstract

A new anion—exchange resin bearing imidazolium pendant groups on a polystyrene copolymer skeleton was synthesized. This resin is a white odorless powder and the bile acid binding activities in vitro were much more potent than those of cholestyramine. The ion- exchange equilibrium coefficient K phosphoric acid ion − bile acid ion − was 271, compared to that of cholestyramine which was 32. The hypocholesterolemic activity of this resin in cholesterol-fed rabbits proved to be 1.5-fold more potent than that of cholestyramine. Thus, the effective reduction of plasma cholesterol may be achieved with significantly lower doses of this resin.