Table 2.

Biometric and serum biochemical parameters measured in each group of hamsters from the second experiment.

	C-4d	HFD-4d	P407-4d	C-30d	HFD-30d	P407-30d	2-way ANOVA
Biometric parameters
Initial body weight (g)	113.83 ± 2.27	111.66 ± 2.84	112.59 ± 3.36	113.94 ± 1.52	115.45 ± 1.83	112.53 ± 1.83
Initial fat (%)	10.34 ± 0.74	10.39 ± 0.72	10.48 ± 1.15	11.70 ± 0.41	10.47 ± 0.61	11.02 ± 0.50
Final body weight (g)	115.56 ± 1.97a	114.87 ± 2.80a	114.94 ± 3.48a	124.20 ± 0.96ab	129.60 ± 2.38b	125.80 ± 1.93b	t
Fat increase (%)	−0.37 ± 0.17a	0.70 ± 0.24b	−0.33 ± 0.17a	1.47 ± 0.43c	3.72 ± 0.67c	2.13 ± 0.35c	I, t
Liver weight (%)	3.47 ± 0.12a	3.65 ± 0.04a	3.79 ± 0.11ab	3.45 ± 0.10a	4.07 ± 0.09b	4.04 ± 0.08b	I, t
Biochemical parameters
TC (mg/dL)	162.36 ± 6.10a	231.31 ± 12.16bc	231.41 ± 14.09bc	170.16 ± 8.00a	251.30 ± 8.91b	200.90 ± 8.28ac	I, Ixt
HDLc (mg/dL)	73.22 ± 2.64a	83.42 ± 3.60ab	77.08 ± 3.31a	73.70 ± 5.59a	94.09 ± 4.39b	73.80 ± 3.12a	I
LDLc (mg/dL)	53.94 ± 1.43bc	69.82 ± 4.25a	65.65 ± 3.84ac	47.76 ± 1.85b	67.92 ± 3.01a	46.92 ± 4.12b	I, t, Ixt
Atherogenic index (TC/HDLc)	2.34 ± 0.11ac	2.77 ± 0.09ab	3.02 ± 0.17b	2.25 ± 0.10c	2.69 ± 0.08ab	2.73 ± 0.07ab	I
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	149.60 ± 15.78a	187.16 ± 15.57ac	457.21 ± 58.76bd	219.82 ± 11.93ce	269.28 ± 16.38de	533.02 ± 50.43b	I, t
Phospholipids (mg/dL)	277.96 ± 11.82a	319.03 ± 11.53ab	356.52 ± 15.70b	288.21 ± 12.88ac	338.91 ± 12.50ab	347.34 ± 20.14bc	I
Glucose (mg/dL)	231.88 ± 14.99	253.67 ± 9.90	209.26 ± 12.59	200.97 ± 16.97	254.67 ± 10.88	220.71 ± 16.20	I
NEFAs (mM)	0.46 ± 0.09	0.36 ± 0.05	0.50 ± 0.06	0.55 ± 0.10	0.79 ± 0.16	0.77 ± 0.14	t

The hamsters were distributed into six groups, depending on the treatment and the duration of the experiment: control group-4 days (C-4d), diet-induced dyslipidemia-4 days (HFD-4d), pro-dyslipidemic agent-4 days (P407-4d), control group-30 days (C-30d), diet-induced dyslipidemia-30 days (HFD-30d), and pro-dyslipidemic agent-30 days (P407-30d). The diet-induced dyslipidemia was generated by a high-fat diet (HFD) providing 21% energy as fat and 0.92% as cholesterol. The pro-dyslipidemic agent was Poloxamer 407 (P407) and the dose was 50 mg/kg of body weight. P407 animals were fed the control diet and received intraperitoneal injections of the drug every 3 days. Non-P407 hamsters received injections of vehicle (0.9% NaCl) with equal periodicity. The animals were sacrificed 24 h after the last administration of P407 or vehicle and after a 6 h fast. The concentrations of serum parameters were determined at the end of the experiment. Relative fat and liver weights were determined using the formula 100* (tissue weight/body weight) and expressed as a percentage of the total body weight. Fat increase was calculated as the difference in the relative fat mass at each time point from the initial value for each animal. The data are presented as means ± SEM (n = 9–10). The statistical comparisons among groups were conducted using two- and one-way ANOVAs. A two-tailed p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. For the two-way ANOVA: I: the effect of the pro-dyslipidemic intervention (HFD and P407); t: the effect of time; Ixt: the interaction between the two factors. When one-way ANOVA was also significant, the post hoc analysis was used. In each row of the table, different superscript lowercase letters (^a,b,c) indicate significant different mean values (Tukey’s or Games-Howell tests). TC, total cholesterol; HDLc, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDLc, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; NEFAs, non-esterified free fatty acids.