Fig. 1.

Plaques are less stable in hyperglycaemic versus hyperlipidaemic ApoE-deficient mice. a Representative images of thoracic aortae showing en face plaques as detected by Oil Red O staining (left panel) and dot plot summarizing data (total area stained with Oil Red O, right panel) in control (normal chow diet, Cont), hyperlipidaemic (high-fat diet, HFD), and diabetic (STZ-induced hyperglycaemia, DM) mice. b–g Representative images showing MOVATs staining (b, upper panel) and Oil Red O staining of brachiocephalic arteries (b, middle panel) and aortic roots (b, lower panel). Morphometric analyses of MOVATs and Oil Red O-stained images reveal smaller plaques (c, d), but increased necrotic core area (e), thinner fibrous caps (f), and more ruptured shoulders (g) in ApoE^−/− DM mice compared to ApoE^−/− HFD. Dot plots in e–g summarize results obtained from MOVAT-stained brachiocephalic arteries (b, top). Necrotic core area within plaque is indicated by b *, fibrous caps thickness by a black arrow, and ruptured shoulders by a red arrow (b). h Representative images showing immunofluorescence staining of macrophages (upper panel, MOMA-2, green; DAPI nuclear counterstain, blue) and smooth muscle cells (lower panel, α-actin, positive cells detected by HRP-DAB reaction, brown) within lesions and dot plot summarizing data. Cont: non-diabetic ApoE^−/− mice receiving normal chow diet; HFD: ApoE^−/− mice receiving high-fat diet (HFD); DM: hyperglycaemic ApoE^−/− mice. Data shown as dot plots represent mean ± SEM of 10–12 mice per group (a, c–h); size bars: b, h: 20 µm; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; a, c, d: one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc comparison of HFD and DM versus Cont and HFD versus DM; e–h t-test