Figure 6.

Neopterin expression during aortic atherosclerosis. A, Mean percentage of neopterin (intima, media, and adventitia) based on lesion morphology. Neopterin expression is minimal in early atherosclerosis, but increases during progressive disease (*P<0.0007; compared to nonprogressive lesions); afterward, remains relatively unchanged for stable healed plaque ruptures and fibrocalcific plaques. There is a small, but significant, decrease in neopterin expression within the shoulder regions of vulnerable plaques (^† P<0.043; compared to progressive lesions). Adventitial neopterin staining is relatively minimal and stable throughout all lesion morphologies. Spearman's rho correlation coefficient is not significant in the intima, shoulder, cap, and adventitia. B, Representative image of an intimal xanthoma stained for neopterin with a high‐resolution image at a ×400 magnification. Neopterin expression is seen in areas containing macrophage foam cells. C, Representative image of a healed rupture stained for neopterin with high‐resolution details of the cap, shoulder, and adventitia at a ×100 magnification. Neopterin expression is present within the various areas of the atherosclerotic lesion. Total number of cases in (A): 102 (normal 7, nonprogressive lesions 23, progressive lesions 35, vulnerable lesions 22, and stabilized lesions 15). Large solid bars in (A) represent the mean percentage of neopterin expression within the aortic wall section per atherosclerotic phase±SEM. All sections were developed with diaminobenzidine (DAB) and counterstained with Mayer's hematoxylin. N/A indicates not applicable.