Figure 2.

Cumulative concentration-response curves for endothelium-dependent relaxations to insulin. The measurement was performed using aortae derived from wild-type or Lcn2-KO mice under high-fat diet conditions (A). The ages of mice were indicated within each panel. Area under the curves was calculated and presented for comparing the effects of prolonged high-fat diet and between the two groups of mice (B, upper panel). Endothelium removal or treatment with L-NAME abolished insulin-induced relaxations of aortae collected from mice fed a high-fat diet for 2–3 weeks (B, bottom panel). *P < 0.05 versus wild-type mice; n = 10–15. EC, endothelial cells.