Fig. 2.

Effects of CSDS on cholesterol homeostasis. After 30 days on either chow or HFD, mice were fasted 3 h and liver was collected. (A) Significant differences were noted by qPCR for genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis, including HMG-CoA reductase, HMG-CoA synthase, SREBP2, LDL receptor, PCSK9, and MYLIP. (B) Intrahepatic levels of cholesterol. (C) Relative levels of LDL-R protein by western blot with human LDL receptor-related protein (LRP) used as control. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, with significant differences as an insert on the chart (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.001). Groups first tested by two-way ANOVA. If a statistical interaction was observed between factors, comparison of all four groups was performed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey posthoc comparison, and statistically different groups are indicated by different letters. CSDS, chronic social defeat stress; HFD, high-fat diet; MYLIP, myosin regulatory light chain interacting protein; PCSK9, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9; SREBP2, sterol-regulatory element binding protein 2.