Effects of dietary cholesterol on tissue ceramides and oxidation products of apolipoprotein B-100 in ApoE-deficient mice.

Oxidized LDL (oxLDL) has been shown to activate the sphingomyelinase pathway producing ceramide in vascular smooth muscle cells. Therefore ceramide, which is a biologically active lipid causing apoptosis in a variety of cells, may be involved in the apoptotic action of oxLDL. In this study, we examined whether cholesterol enriched diets affected ceramide metabolism and oxidation product of LDL, represented by degradation of apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB) in apoE-deficient (apoE-/-) mice.