FIG. 10.

Suboptimal doses of Rosu+Bex reduced atherosclerosis development and cell composition in apoE^−/− mice on atherogenic diet. Mice were sacrificed at 16 weeks of age after 8 weeks on a low-fat standard diet (control diet), high-fat atherogenic diet (atherogenic diet), or high-fat atherogenic diet treated with Rosu (1.25 mg/kg/day delivered by osmotic minipumps), Bex (10 mg/kg/day) by gavage, or with a combination of both drugs. Atheroma lesion was determined in three to five histological sections per mice (A). The discontinuous lines delineate the limits of the media. Macrophage (Mac-3⁺, B) and T-cell (CD3⁺, C) infiltration were also evaluated. Representative images of aortic root cross-sections, Mac-3⁺ stained area (brown staining), and CD3⁺ cells (white arrowheads) for the control or atherogenic diet-fed mice treated or not with the drugs are shown. Black arrows point to Mac-3⁺ areas within the lesion. Results are the mean±SEM of n=5–7 animals per group. *p<0.05 or **p<0.01 relative to values animals subjected to a control diet; +p<0.05 or ++p<0.01 relative to values in untreated animals subjected to an atherogenic diet.