Figure 1. Photomicrographs of post-angioplasty swine coronary artery tissue sections.

Paraffin embedded thin sections were cut, deparaffinized and histological analysis was performed using H&E, and Masson's trichrome stains and immunohistochemical analysis was done for TNF-α, VDR, and α-SMA expression. For immunohistochemistry, sections were stained with DAB as chromogen and counterstained using hematoxylin. In the H&E staining, the fracture (arrows) in the internal elastic lamina (IEL) and neointimal thickening were observed (A–B). In the Masson's trichrome staining of the tissue sections, collagen deposition in the neointimal area was prominently present(C–D). TNF-α-positive cells in post-angioplasty coronary artery are shown by arrows (E–F). The α-SMA was thoroughly expressed both in neointima and medial layer (G–H). Expression of VDR was decreased in neointima compared to media (I–J). Quantification of VDR staining in neointima and media of post-angioplasty coronary arteries was done by NIH image J (K). Two-tailed unpaired student t tests were performed to determine statistical relevance. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. ***P<0.001. Negative control is shown (L–M). (N = 6) scale bar 100 µm, magnification (100×–400×); A: adventitia L: lumen, M: medial layer, NI:neointima.