Fig. 5. CXCL3⁺ macrophages were positively correlated with CXCR2⁺ neutrophils within AD lesion.

A Interaction network of main cell types in AD constructed with CellChat. B The ligand-receptor interactions between macrophages and neutrophils in AD compared to those in NA. C, D Representative images of the presence of CXCL3⁺ macrophages within human (C) and mice (D) dissected aorta. Scale bars = 100 μm. E, F Representative images of the presence of CXCR2⁺ neutrophils within human (E) and mice (F) dissected aorta. Scale bars = 100 μm. G Pearson correlation analysis showing positive linear correlation between the number of CXCL3⁺ macrophages and the number of CXCR2⁺ neutrophils within human aortic lesion (n = 5, three fields per sample). H, I Bar plot showing the positive correlation between elastin degradation grading and CXCL3⁺ macrophages (H) and CXCR2⁺ neutrophils (I) (n = 5, three fields per sample). Values are expressed as means ± SD. A two-sided statistical significance was set at *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 by Mann–Whitney U test.