Figure 2.

ERβ agonist conjugate VB-165 enhances metabolic health in aged mice. (A) Schematic of experimental study in 24-month-old mice receiving intraperitoneal injections of VB-165 for 6 weeks. Created with BioRender.com. (B) Body weight after the treatment. (C, D) Body composition after the treatment. (E) Serum triglyceride levels. (F) Intraperitoneal insulin tolerance tests (ITT) of aged mice with computed area under curve (AUC). (G) Profile of white blood cell counts. (H) Aged eWAT mass after compound treatment. (I) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of eWAT. Scale bar, 200 μm. (J) Quantification of adipocyte size in eWAT. (K) Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis of adipogenic and lipogenic genes in eWAT. (L) Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of pan-macrophage marker F4/80 in eWAT with quantification. Scale bar, 100 μm. (M) Inflammatory gene expression in eWAT. ∗P < 0.05, ∗∗P < 0.01, ∗∗∗P < 0.001, n = 5. All values are presented as the mean ± SEM.