Observable differences are highly significant; performing one-sided Mann-Whitney U tests (with the alternative hypothesis c treated > c untreated ) leads to the rejection of the null-hypothesis (p < 5 x 10 −4 ) for all metabolites.
Since all of these parameters showed a trend towards alterations consistent with impaired insulin sensitivity, we cannot exclude that the number of studied animals (n = 5) was too low to unravel significant DEHP effects on additional parameters of insulin resistance and impaired glucose metabolism.
We found a clear trend both for lipids and carnitines, that the unsaturated forms are increased, whereas the saturated forms are not changed or even downregulated by DEHP exposure.