Table 1.

Effects of treatments

Variable	AS	n	Control	n	P value
Sudan IV+ area in aorta, %	30.4  ± 11.9	18	47.3  ± 13.6	18	<0.001*
Plaque at aortic sinus, mm2	0.47  ± 0.17	17	0.68  ± 0.19	16	0.002*
Arch wall thickness, μ	245  ± 47	18	338  ± 51	18	<0.001*
Vasa vasorum foci†	2 (1–4)	9	5 (2–12)	9	0.003*
Vasa vasorum density‡	12.8  ± 4.5	9	21.0  ± 4.7	9	0.002*
CD31+ vessels, count/mm2§	6 (5–11)	7	15 (8–18)	8	0.001*
Smooth muscle cell, cells/mm2	667  ± 318	8	740  ± 389	8	0.687
Plaque Macs, cells/mm2	364  ± 245	7	798  ± 170	8	0.003*
Spleen Macs, relative area¶	0.60  ± 0.07	7	0.54  ± 0.08	7	0.143
Blood leukocytes, cells/mm3	9,877  ± 2,520	9	9,456  ± 3,008	9	0.751
Blood monocytes, cells/mm3	521  ± 193	9	574  ± 266	9	0.633
Serum IL-6, pg/dl	136  ± 82	9	132  ± 61	9	0.912

Values are means ± SD unless otherwise noted. n, Number of animals. P values are based on the independent groups Student's t test, except for the CD31⁺ vessel and VV counts (Mann–Whitney U test). 

^*Statistically significant. 

^† Number of VV per descending aorta. Data are median values with ranges in parentheses. 

^‡ Mean density of VV determined as the relative area of CD31⁺-stained vessels per measured field. 

^§ CD31⁺ capillaries in intima and adventitia normalized for intimal area (mm²). 

^¶ Area of Mac3⁺ antibody staining normalized for total cell nuclei.