Figure 6.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21, but not adiponectin (ADN), alters hepatic expression of the key genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and transport. Total RNA extracted from the liver of apolipoprotein (apo) E^−/− mice or apoE^−/−FGF21^−/− (DKO) mice treated with recombinant mouse FGF21, ADN, or vehicle as in Figure 4 was subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Figure shows the relative mRNA expression levels of genes involved in cholesterol synthesis, including 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthetase (HMGCS), squalene synthase (Sqle), and farnesyl diphosphate synthetase (Fdps; A and B) genes involved in bile acids metabolism including cholesterol 7-α-monooxygenase (CYP7A1), sterol 12-α-hydroxylase (CYP8B1), sterol 27-hydroxylase (CYP27A1), and small heterodimer partner (SHP; C), as well as genes involved in cholesterol transports including ABCG5 and ABCG8 (D). n=5 to 7. Data are presented as dot plots with the line indicating the median. The global significance among 4 groups was determined by Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by pairwise comparisons with the Dunn-Sidak procedure.