Table 3. Effect of co-incubation of 50 μM SIMVA and 0–400 μM MA on total cellular cholesterol levels.

Total cholesterol concentration, measured as free and esterified cholesterol, was calculated as the average of triplicates and expressed as percentage of total cellular cholesterol concentration in untreated cells, which was taken as 100%. In all incubations, cells were co-incubated with 50 μM SIMVA and 0–400 μM MA, with the exception of untreated cells, which were incubated in Ultroser® G medium alone.

MA concentration (μM)	Cholesterol concentration (% of untreated±S.D.)	Versus untreated*	Versus 50 μM SIMVA†
Untreated	100±5.63	–	–
0	72.5±2.97	P<0.001	–
50	55.6±2.84	P<0.001	ns
100	75.6±2.00	P<0.001	ns
250	53.5±1.85	P<0.001	ns
400	78.2±6.82	P<0.001	ns

*Cellular cholesterol levels in cells co-incubated with 50 μM SIMVA and increasing concentrations of MA were compared with cholesterol levels in cells grown in Ultroser® G medium only to determine whether increasing concentrations of MA were able to reverse the reduction of total cellular cholesterol levels by 50 μM back to those levels observed in untreated cells.

†Cellular cholesterol levels in cells pretreated with 50 μM SIMVA and increasing concentrations of MA were compared with cellular cholesterol levels in cells pretreated with 50 μM SIMVA alone to determine whether total cellular cholesterol levels differed at any of the concentrations of MA investigated. ns, not significant.