Selective 11β-HSD1 inhibition reduces atherosclerotic lesions in WD-fed ApoE-KO mice. A) i) On gross inspection, lesions were evident on the lesser curvature of the aortic arch (black arrow), in the innominate artery (red arrow) and at the origins of the left carotid and left subclavian arteries (black arrowheads). Lesions appeared to be smaller following 11β-HSD1 inhibition. ii) UST demonstrated large complex lesions in the innominate artery. iii) Immunohistochemistry with α-SMA identified smooth muscle cells. iv) PSR staining identified collagen. B) Image analyses of these sections confirmed that short-term selective 11β-HSD1 inhibition reduced innominate artery atherosclerosis in ApoE-KO mice. C) 11β-HSD1 inhibition did not alter the proportion of smooth muscle cells in atherosclerotic lesions in the innominate artery of ApoE-KO mice. However, collagen content was increased following 11β-HSD1 inhibition, and smaller areas devoid of cells or collagen, probably reflecting extracellular lipid pools, were reduced, compared with ApoE-KO controls (n=6/group). Original view ×40. *P < 0.05 vs. vehicle control.