Rats maintained on high fat diets were treated with estrogens or their congeners. T h e actions of the compounds were highly specific. Total serum cholesterol was lowered 54.7 per cent by 1,l-dibenzyloxyphenyl-(2-p-anisy1)ethylene. This compound depressed testicular size 19.4 per cent but did not inhibit spermatogenesis appreciably. 8-Diethylaminoethylfencholate hydrochloride lowered total serum cholesterol and depressed testicular size without depressing the process of spermatogenesis when measured by the criteria used in these experiments. There was no relation between the enlargement of the adrenals and the depression in weight of the testicles or the extent of depression of spermatogenesis.
CCORDING t o Engelberg (1) the best current
A concensus is that atherosclerosis is not an inevitable consequence of the wear and tear of aging but may be prevented or perhaps reversed. since men show a significantly higher cholesterol level than premenopausal women (2) and arterial diseases predominate in males of comparable age (3), estrogens may prove useful in treating or preventing certain vascular syndromes. Estrogens alter the q ' @ lipoprotein and the cholesterol/phospholipid ratios (4). Patients with coronary diseases treated with estrogens show not only a lower cholesterol level but a lower recurrence of myocardial infarction than nontreated cardiac patients (5). T h e prolonged administration of available estrogens is limited b y development of signs of gynecomastia, nausea, vomiting, lassitude, malaise, and diarrhea (6). Hartley (7) prophesized that "in the future synthetic estrogens which have been tailored to accentuate specific biological manifestations for therapeutic advantage will be available." Malinow a n d Pellegrino (8) separated vascular from testicular effects t o show that "the arterial protection afforded by estrogens is not mediated through an induced atropy of the testicle." Davies, et al. (9), found two compounds, possessing weak estrogenic actions, that shifted abnormal blood lipid levels toward average patterns. Cook, Edgrene, a n d Saunders (10) also selected several compounds with weak estrogenic actions thdt produced favorable lipid-shifting properties. The purpose of this research was to seek a compound which would produce the beneficial shifting of blood lipids without producing undesirable side actions.