Cholesterol content and Fatty acid composition of phospholipids in control, treated and patient muscle cells.

Membrane fatty acid profile was determined using GC/MS. For each fatty acid, the relative amount (amount for each FA/total FA amount) was calculated and fatty acids were set in several classes: medium chain fatty acid (from C10 to C14), saturated fatty acid (from C10 to C26), mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids and finally very long chain fatty acids (C>20). Control cells were cultured under regular conditions (Control) or in the presence of L-carnitine (500 µM), DMD patient cells were also cultured either in the absence (DMD) or the presence of L-carnitine (DMD + LC 500 µM). In the table, each value represents the percentage of the FA family concerned. As many fatty acids can be present in several columns (eg a saturated very long chain fatty acid is going to be present in both the saturated and the VLCFA columns) the total is likely to be different of 100. Cholesterol level is expressed in µg per million cells. Each value is the average + sem of 7 experiments. (letters indicate significant difference P