Figure 3.

Specific inhibition of vascular HO-1 activity by HO-1 siRNA attenuates the ability of curcumin to reduce collar-induced acute vascular inflammation in NZW rabbits. NZW rabbits were fed a control diet or control diet supplemented with 0.3% curcumin (wt/wt) for 4 weeks preceding carotid artery collar implantation. HO-1 siRNA or scrambled siRNA was loaded into the space between the collar and carotid artery at the time of collar implantation. At 24 hours after collar implantation, the animals were euthanised and the carotid arteries and livers were excised for analysis. Quantification of the HO-1 mRNA levels (fold of scrambled siRNA) in the collared carotid arteries (a) and liver (b) is shown. The serum bilirubin levels are shown in (c). Representative sections from the collared arteries immunostained for VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 are shown in panel (d) (bar = 50 μm). Quantification of the VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 staining in the collared artery sections is shown in (e) and (f), respectively. The results are represented as the mean ± SEM, n = 6 per group, ^∗ indicates P < 0.05 compared to control.