FIGURE 7.

(A) Cryosections of the aortic sinus from both CHIT1-OE mice and littermate controls after 12 weeks of HFD were stained with picrosirius red to visualize type I collagen. While collagen appears unorganized and lightly stained, especially on the luminal aspect of necrotic cores in control sections, collagen observed in CHIT1-OE mice presented a more organized “lattice” appearance and was distributed around necrotic cores and specifically on the luminal aspect. (B) Quantification of picrosirius red as a percentage of total plaque area exhibited significantly more collagen deposition in CHIT1-OE mice compared to littermate controls (P = 0.0289). (C) HA stained with BHABP can be seen localized in the periphery of the aortic sinus in control cryosections, whereas HA appears throughout the plaque and within the necrotic cores of CHIT1-OE. HA is extensively visible in plaques of CHIT1-OE mice. Interestingly, HA appears to accumulate within the acellular necrotic core regions. (D) Analysis of BHABP staining revealed significantly greater HA content in the aortic sinus of CHIT1-OE mice compared to littermate controls (P = 0.0370). *P < 0.05, N = 7 per group.