Fig. 6.

Male but not female or postweaned male mice show elevated levels of plasma cholesterol associated with increased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. A: we measured plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and calculated LDL in the plasma in +/+ and +/Dsk5 3-mo-old male mice. The total cholesterol was nearly doubled in +/Dsk5 mice on a normal chow diet. P < 0.01. This was associated with an increase in the circulating triglyceride level and a 20-fold increase in the calculated LDL level. P < 0.005. B: we measured the changes in the circulating levels in male mice at different stages of development. We also measured the levels of cholesterol in 3- and 7-mo-old female mice. Compared with +/+ mice, we found a consistent, statistically significant increase in plasma cholesterol in male +/Dsk5 mice between 1.5 and 5 mo (the level was higher in the 7-mo-old male but did not attain statistical significance due to a smaller sample size) but not in postweaned male mice or adult female mice. *P < 0.0009; **P < 0.005; ***P < 0.02.