Testosterone Deficiency Promotes Hypercholesteremia and Attenuates Cholesterol Liver Uptake via AR/PCSK9/LDLR Pathways

Figure 3

Testosterone deficiency attenuates cholesterol liver uptake. (a) Amount of 3H-cholesterol in the liver of rats 2 hours after the gavage with 5 μCi 3H-cholesterol and 0.1 mg unlabeled cholesterol demonstrating the liver cholesterol uptake (n = 6). (b) Cholesterol uptake of HepG2 cells in different levels of testosterone. Cells were incubated with 0, 10, 30, 300 nM testosterone for 72 h and then BODIPY-labeled low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (red) for 2 h. After wash of PBS for twice, cells were stained with DAPI (blue) and visualized using confocal microscopy. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical analyses are unpaired t-test or one-way ANOVA. ; ; ; ns: non-significant.