Administration of CORM-2 does not improve m-RCT in vivo in diabetic mice.

Macrophage-to-plasma m-RCT was increased in diabetic mice, and liver-to-feces m-RCT was decreased in Stz-CORM-2 mice. Individually housed mice were intraperitoneally injected with 1 million [3H]-cholesterol-labeled J774 mouse macrophages per animal, and the distribution of counts into different compartments was determined 48 h after injection. Counts were assessed by liquid scintillation counting. At the end of the experimental period, livers were harvested, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at -80°C. In all panels, results are the mean ± SEM of 5 mice and are expressed in % vs. injected dose. (A) Total plasma levels of [3H]-cholesterol. (B) Plasma levels of [3H]-cholesterol in the HDL fraction. (C) Hepatic levels of [3H]-cholesterol. Counts in a weighed liver sample were determined following liquid extraction of the tissue and related to total liver mass. (D) Fecal [3H]-tracer. Feces were collected continuously up to 48 h and were dried, weighed, and thoroughly ground. Aliquots were separated into bile acid and cholesterol fractions, and counts recovered from the respective aliquots were related to the total amount of feces produced over 48 h. Differences between the mean values were determined using either a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test followed by a Dunn test or parametric one-way ANOVA followed a Student-Newman-Keuls test, as appropriate. For all panels, * indicates significant differences vs. Ctrl-vehicle and † vs. Stz-vehicle treated mice (p < 0.05). CORM-2, (tricarbonyldichlororuthenium(II) dimer; Ctrl, control mice; Stz, streptozotocin treated mice.