Table 3.

The anti-hyperlipidaemic effects of CQ and HCQ in animal studies

Types of animal	Types of induction	Treatment, dose, route and duration	Research outcomes	Mechanism of action	Reference
Adult Sprague-Dawley rats	STZ (27.5 mg/kg, i.p.)	HCQ (200 mg/kg/week, oral, 4 weeks)	TG: ↓, TC: ↓, FFA: ↓, LDL-C: ↓, HDL-C: ↑	IL-1β: ↓, IL-6: ↓, TNF-α: ↓, TGF-β1: ↓, MCP-1: ↓, IL-10: ↔	23
Male C57BL/6J mice	High-fat diet (60% fat)	HCQ (40 mg/kg/day, pre-treatment, i.p., 17 weeks)	Serum TG: ↓, TC: ↓, LDL-C: ↓, FFA: ↓, HDL-C: ↔ Liver TG: ↓, TC: ↓	Inflammation IL-1β: ↓, IL-6: ↓, TNF-α: ↓, MCP-1: ↓, CD68: ↓, Arg1: ↓ Lipid metabolism CPT1α: ↑, CPT1β: ↑, PPAR-γ: ↓, Mgat-1: ↓, SREBP1c: ↓, ChREBP: ↓, ACC: ↓, FAS: ↓	29
Male Wistar rats	Low protein diet	CQ (5 mg/kg, 3 days/week, oral, 8 weeks)	TC: ↓, TG: ↓	-	49
Male db/db mice	-	HCQ (50 mg/kg/day, oral, 7 days)	FFA: ↔, TG: ↔, TC: ↔, TC (heart): ↔	IGF-1: ↔, p-Akt: ↑, p-mTOR: ↔, p-S6: ↔	30

Abbreviations: ACC, acetyl-CoA carboxylase; Arg1, arginase 1; CD, cluster of differentiation; ChREBP, carbohydrate response element binding protein; CPT1α, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 alpha; CPT1β, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 beta; CQ, chloroquine; FAS; fatty acid synthase; FFA, free fatty acids; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; IGF-1, insulin growth factor 1; IL-1β, interleukin-1 beta; IL-6, interleukin-6; IL-10, interleukin-10; i.p., intraperitoneal; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; MCP-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; Mgat-1, monoacylglycerol-O-acyltransferase; p-Akt, phosphorylated protein kinase B; p-mTOR, phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin; PPAR-γ, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma; SREBP1c, sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor 1; STZ, streptozotocin; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglyceride; TGF-β1, transforming growth factor-beta 1; TNF-α, tumour necrosis factor-alpha; ↑, increase/stimulate; ↓, decrease/inhibit; ↔, no change.