Fig. 4.

HDE ameliorated atherosclerotic plaques in ApoE^−/− mice model. (A) Schematic diagram of experimental design of ApoE^−/− mice on a high cholesterol diet. Body weight of ApoE^−/− mice was measured after injection (n = 5). There were no significant differences in average body weight after injection of vehicle, rapamycin (10 mg/kg), or HDE (50 mg/kg) during the 60-day period (29 treatments). (B) Accumulation of triglycerides in the liver tissue in each group was quantified. (C) Representative en face images of whole aortas from three treatment groups. Lesions in total aortas were investigated using Oil Red O staining. (D) Representative images of consecutive sections of an aortic sinus (stained with Oil Red O) (scale bar: 50 µm). (E) Representative images of consecutive aortic sinus sections immunostained with anti-LC3B antibody (scale bar : 100 µm). Results are presented as mean ± SEM values. Statistical significance was assessed using Student’s t-tests. **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05.