MFGM lipid components such as sphingolipids are involved in the intestinal uptake of cholesterol. Studies in adult rodents have shown that milk sphingomyelin could lower the intestinal absorption of cholesterol in a dose-dependent manner. Intestinal cholesterol absorption in adult rodents consuming a high fat diet was limited by sphingomyelin supplementation. Milk sphingomyelin and other phospholipids with high affinity for cholesterol could limit the micellar solubility of intestinal cholesterol, thereby limiting the cholesterol uptake by the enterocyte. Dietary sphingolipids have been shown to dose-dependently lower plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol in adult rodents fed with Western-type diet and protect the liver from fat- and cholesterol-induced steatosis. Dietary sphingolipids also lowers hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride levels in adult rodents partly by modulating hepatic gene expression.