Figure 2.

Anti-B cell–activating factor (BAFF) antibody treatment aggravates atherosclerosis. (A) Representative photomicrographs of hematoxylin and eosin–stained aortic root lesions (50×) and dot plot of the average lesion size in the aortic root expressed as µm² per section (400 µm), (B) dot plot of the average necrotic area in the aortic root, (C) representative photomicrographs of Sirius Red⁺ area in aortic root plaques, and serum (D) KC (keratinocyte chemoattractant) cytokine and (E) MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) chemokine levels of Apoe^−/− mice fed an atherogenic diet for 6 weeks and injected with a control (Ctrl) or an anti-BAFF neutralizing antibody (n=8 to 9 mice per group). (F) Representative photomicrographs of hematoxylin and eosin–stained aortic root lesions (50×) and dot plot of the average lesion size in the aortic origin expressed as µm² per section (400 µm), representative photomicrographs and dot plot of the average (G) MAC-3 and (H) Sirius Red⁺ area in aortic root plaques, and serum (I) KC cytokine and (J) MCP-1 chemokine levels of Ldlr^−/− mice fed an atherogenic diet for 8 weeks and injected with a Ctrl or an anti-BAFF neutralizing antibody (n=7 to 8 mice per group). Dots represent individual mice. All results show mean. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 (Mann-Whitney U or unpaired Student’s t test). Scale bar: 200 µm.