Table 1. Effects of atherogenic diet on lipoprotein and liver sphingolipid levels.

ldlr^−/− mice were placed on atherogenic diet for 10 weeks and sphingolipid classes were measured by TLC/HPLC. Serum from three or four animals was pooled for the isolation of lipoprotein particles. Results are means±S.D. (n=3). *P<0.05. Cer, ceramide; DH-Cer, dihydroceramide.

			Sphingolipid level (nmol/ml of serum)			Sphingolipid level (nmol/mg of protein)
Parameter	Sphingolipid	Diet…	Standard	Modified	Diet…	Standard	Modified
VLDL	SM		14.61±1.35	220.10±77.86*		52.19±4.85	120.20±42.54*
	Cer		4.91±0.06	16.27±2.18*		17.21±0.22	8.89±1.19*
	DH-Cer		1.24±0.11	4.15±1.17*		4.37±0.38	2.26±0.64*
LDL	SM		48.32±1.64	227.64±15.07*		59.65±2.02	115.88±25.03*
	Cer		2.64±0.02	33.24±1.71*		3.22±0.02	15.04±0.77*
	DH-Cer		0.68±0.21	5.43±1.82*		0.84±0.32	2.81±0.82*
HDL	SM		0.92±0.64	36.41±1.79*		2.29±1.62	20.11±0.98*
	Cer		0.45±0.06	3.48±1.54*		1.11±0.14	1.92±0.85
	DH-Cer		0.05±0.05	0.47±0.20*		0.14±0.01	0.26±0.11
LPDS	SM		0.22±0.71	2.09±0.20*		0.05±0.01	0.06±0.01
	Cer		1.90±0.94	0.84+0.07		0.12±0.06	0.03±0.01
	DH-Cer		0.01±0.01	0.37±0.03*		0.04±0.07	0.60±0.01
Liver	SM		N/A	N/A		0.50±0.02	1.90±0.40*
	Cer		N/A	N/A		0.64±0.04	1.09±0.20*
	DH-Cer		N/A	N/A		0.03±0.02	0.09±0.01*