Figure 6: Effects of tamoxifen and raloxifene on macrophage-specific RCT.

Mice were fed a western-type diet for 4 weeks and treated with tamoxifen (TAM), raloxifene (RAL) or vehicle (Control) for the last 10 days. Forty-eight hours before sacrifice, mice were injected intraperitoneally with [³H]cholesterol-labelled, AcLDL-loaded mouse peritoneal macrophages that had been treated ex vivo with the same drug or vehicle, respectively. (a) Serum total and HDL-associated [³H]cholesterol at 48 h. (b) Liver [³H]cholesterol at 48 h and excretion of total [³H]tracer, [³H]cholesterol and [³H]bile acids in feces over 48 h. Data are mean ± SEM of 5 mice per group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. (c) Serum [³H]cholesterol at early time points. Data are mean ± SEM of 5 mice per group. ***P < 0.001 versus Control; ^##P < 0.01, ^###P < 0.001 versus RAL.