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16-Dehydropregnenolone (DHP) has been developed and patented as a promising antihyperlipidemic agent by CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CSIR-CDRI), India. Although DHP is implicated in controlling cholesterol homeostasis, the mechanism underlying its pharmacological effect in hyperlipidemic disease models is poorly understood. In the present study, we postulated that DHP lowers serum lipids through regulating the key hepatic genes accountable for cholesterol metabolism. The hypothesis was tested on golden Syrian hamsters fed with high-fat diet (HFD) following oral administration of DHP at a dose of 72 mg/kg body weight for a period of one week. The serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and total bile acids (TBA) in feces were measured. Real time comparative gene expression studies were …