4.7. Assays for Plasma Cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and Triglyceride

Plasma total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglyceride (TG) were measured using a cholesterol assay kit (Cayman Chemical Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, USA), a HDL and LDL/VLDL cholesterol assay kit (Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA), and a serum triglyceride determination kit (Sigma), respectively. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) was calculated from TG, TC, and HDL concentrations using the modified Friedwald formula: LDL = TC − HDL − 0.16 × (TG).