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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Dec 21.
Published in final edited form as: J Biomed Sci Eng. 2015;8(11):789–796. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2015.811075

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Endothelial VCAM-1, markers of atherosclerosis and endothelial health throughout carotid arteries in FH swine. Representative photomicrographs of VCAM-1 (A–C), SRA (E–G), nitrotyrosine (I–K), p-eNOS (M–O), eNOS (Q–S) and non-immune (U–W) staining in the bifurcation, proximal and distal CCA of a 14-month old animal: intima (i), media (m) and adventitia (a). In the bifurcation (A), VCAM-1 was more prominent in the intima, particularly along the endothelium (black arrows). These same regions also strongly stained for SRA (E) and nitrotyrosine (I). VCAM-1 ((B) and (C)) and SRA ((F) and (G)) in the intima (i) was markedly decreased in the proximal and distal CCA compared to the bifurcation. In contrast with VCAM-1 and SRA, nitrotyrosine was intense along the endothelium (black arrows) and in the media (m) of the proximal and distal CCA. p-eNOS (M–O) and eNOS (Q–S) were restricted to the endothelium (arrows) except in the bifurcation where faint eNOS staining was also occasionally seen in the subendothelial space (arrowheads). Quantification of endothelial VCAM-1 (D), intimal SRA (H), endothelial nitrotyrosine (L), p-eNOS (P), total eNOS (T) and the ratio of phosphorylated- to-total eNOS (p-eNOS/eNOS, X). Positive endothelial staining for all markers except SRA were normalized to the luminal circumference of the artery. SRA was expressed as a percent of intimal positive staining. eVCAM-1 (D) and intimal SRA (H) was greater in the bifurcation compared to the proximal and distal CCA. In addition, 24-month swine had greater eVCAM-1 staining compared to 14-month animals. No significant difference was seen between groups or carotid segments for endo-thelial nitrotyrosine staining. P-eNOS (P), eNOS (T) and p-eNOS/eNOS (X) were greater in the distal CCA compared to other segments. Age had no effect except on p-eNOS/eNOS which was greater at 24 months. Data are represented as mean ± SE (14 months, n = 14, 24 months, n = 10; *p < 0.05 vs. bifurcation; †p < 0.05 vs. proximal CCA; ^p < 0.05 in 24 vs. 14 months). CCA, common carotid artery; eVCAM-1, endothelial vascular cell adhesion molecule-1; SRA, Scavenger-receptor A; p-eNOS, phosphorylated eNOS; mo, month-old; ns, not statistically significant. All images were taken at 10× magnification.