FIGURE 7.

Relative mRNA levels of liver lipid metabolism genes. Total RNA isolated from liver of 12-week-old WT, I-Mttp^−/−, I-Abca1^−/−, and I-DKO (n = 5) male mice fed a chow diet was used to quantify mRNA levels of fatty acid and triglyceride biosynthesis genes (A), cholesterol metabolism genes (B), and fatty acid oxidation and triglyceride secretion genes (C). Mean ± S.D. ^a, p < 0.05; ^b, p < 0.01, and ^c, p < 0.001 compared with WT. D, in a separate experiment, 12-week-old WT, I-Mttp^−/−, I-Abca1^−/−, and I-DKO male mice (n = 3) were fasted overnight and sacrificed. For fatty acid oxidation, 50-mg aliquots of liver were incubated with [¹⁴C]oleic acid (0.3 μCi) for 2 h, and the radiolabeled CO₂ was captured and quantified in a scintillation counter. Mean ± S.D. ***, p < 0.001 compared with WT.