Table 2.
Methodological characterisations of the atherosclerotic phenotype in ApoE−/− and LDLR−/− models
| Descriptors | Method | Ref. No. |
|---|---|---|
| Lesion size | ||
| Plaque, lumen, media and vessel area | morphometry | 23, 28 |
| Histological features | ||
| Aorta en face and/or staining by aortic root section | Sudan IV/Oil Red O/Mayer hematoxylin/TOPRO-3 | 9, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 37 |
| Lipid content | Oil Red O | 28, 35 |
| Endothelial damage | Evans blue staining | 25 |
| Collagen deposition | Picrosirius Red | 9, 24, 27, 29 |
| Fibrosis, cholesterol clefts, acellular areas and fibrous cap | hematoxylin and eosin | 31, 33 |
| Foam cells | Oil Red O | 25 |
| Elastin | Miller/Van Gieson | 25 |
| Cellular and humoral characterisations | ||
| Complement deposition, binding | C3, C3d, C9/MAC, C5, C5b-9, DAF, CD59 antibodies | 9, 23, 25, 26, 29, 31, 32, 37 |
| Macrophage content | CD68, MOMA-2, Mac3 antibodies | 23, 25, 26, 31, 32, 33, 37 |
| Vascular smooth muscle cell content | α-smooth muscle actin antibody | 25, 26, 32, 33, 37 |
| T cell content | CD3, CD4 and CD8 antibodies | 25, 37 |
| Apoptotic cells | anti-cleaved caspase 3 antibody, terminal uridine nick-end labelling | 25, 26, 31, 37 |
| B cell content | CD19 antibody | 26 |
| IgG/IgM deposition | confocal microscopy | 37 |
| Foam cells | CD11b antibody | 35 |
| Triglyceride levels and clearance | enzymatic assays | 27, 33 |
| Complement activation: C3, C3a levels | ELISA | 29, 32 |
| Lipoprotein profile and cholesterol | gel filtration liquid chromatography/ enzymatic assay | 9, 23, 25, 29, 32, 33, 35, 37 |
| IgM and IgG levels, auto-antibodies for oxLDL/modified LDL | ELISA | 9, 31, 33 |
| ssDNA, dsDNA, chromatin, histone | ELISA | 28, 37 |
| Endothelial damage | ELISA (for vWF in serum) | 25 |