Figure 4.

Selective activation of estrogen receptor α membrane‐initiated steroid signaling does not prevent early plaque formation. Four‐week‐old ovariectomized low‐density lipoprotein receptor–deficient mice were given 17β‐estradiol (E2), pathway preferential estrogen (PaPE)‐1 pellet or vehicle (Veh), or empty dendrimer (Dend) or estrogen‐Dend conjugate (EDC) (n=6–9) and switched to an atherogenic diet from the age of 6 to 14 weeks. Representative uteri (A), uterine weight (B), adiponectin mRNA levels from liver quantified by real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and normalized to PPIA mRNA levels (C), plasma cholesterol content (D), representative micrographs of oil red O lipid‐stained cryosections of the aortic sinus (E), and quantification of lipid deposition from these mice (F). Data are mean ± SEM. To test the impact of the different treatments, a 1‐way ANOVA was performed. *P <0.05 , ***P <0.001.