Fig. 5.

Treatment with doxycycline improves coronary outcome. (a) C57BL/6 mice were injected with Lactobacillus casei cell wall extract (LCWE) and left untreated or treated with doxycycline in the drinking water to 30–50 mg/kg/day. Heart sections were prepared 42 days later and stained with haematoxylin and eosin or elastin van Gieson (EVG) to evaluate the presence of coronary artery inflammation or elastin breakdown, respectively (bar, 50 µm). (b) Digital images of LCWE-responsive (n = 5) or doxycycline-treated LCWE-injected (n = 8) mice were subjected to measurement of EVG⁺ elastin by colour threshold and arterial area. Elastin content is defined as the ratio of elastin to artery area (*P = 0·0005).