Figure 5.

IELLQAR decreases PLCA-induced atherosclerosis and impaired Ly-6C^high monocyte recruitment to the arterial walls of ApoE^−/− mice. Eight-week-old male ApoE-deficient mice randomized into four treatment groups, sham group, normal saline (NS), and two IELLQAR treatment groups (1 and 3 mg/kg), and fed a normal chow diet for 4 weeks. In PLCA surgery, three (left external carotid, internal carotid, and occipital artery) of the four branches of ApoE^−/− mice were ligated, and only the superior thyroid artery was left to provide blood circulation. (a) Representative histological analysis results of the carotid artery following H&E staining (n ≥ 5). Scale bar: 50 μm. (b) Flow cytometric dot plots showing the percentage of CD45⁺CD11b⁺Ly-6C^high monocytes in circulation. (c) Representative histological analysis results of the carotid artery following immunofluorescence staining with Ly-6C (n ≥ 5). Scale bar: 50 μm and 25 μm, respectively. (d) The mRNA expression levels of MCP-1, CCR2, and ICAM-1 in carotid artery tissue were measured by qRT-PCR (n ≥ 5). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM; ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗p < 0.001.