Different doses of finasteride were given to male mice who had atherosclerosis for 12 weeks while feeding them a Western diet. The finasteride not only lowered their cholesterol levels but also had some clearing of the fatty deposits in their arteries. The mice on finasteride had less fat in their livers than the mice not taking the drug. The researchers believed that finasteride makes the body better able to digest and metabolize fats. However, the mice were on an extremely high dosage of finasteride to produce this effect. So the researchers looked at how finasteride might affect men already taking the drug.
The researchers collected health data from almost 4,800 men over 50 from 2009 to 2016 and controlled for alcohol use, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions. Although just 155 of the men were taking finasteride, their total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels were lower than the men who weren’t taking the drug. However, HDL cholesterol wasn’t affected by finasteride.