Figure 1. TSP-1 deletion prevents leptin-induced lipid burden in ApoE^−/− mice.

Male and female age-matched ApoE^−/− and TSP-1^−/−/ApoE^−/− littermate mice weaned at 4wks were maintained on standard laboratory diet until 20wks of age. Beginning at 17 wks, mice received murine recombinant leptin (5µg/g) or PBS (vehicle control) IP once daily for three consecutive weeks. Serial sections of equivalent regions of the aortic root were stained with 0.5% ORO followed by hematoxylin counterstaining. All images were captured at 4X magnification. Total lesion area and ORO-positive area (measured in µm²) was quantified using Image J; lipid burden depicted via %ORO positive area. Shown are A) representative ORO-stained aortic root sections and summary data for %ORO positive area in B) male and C) female mice. (PBS-treated ApoE^−/−: n=6; Leptin-treated ApoE^−/−: n=6; PBS-treated TSP1^−/−/ApoE^−/−: n=3; Leptin-treated-TSP-1^−/−/ApoE^−/−: n=4; 2–6 sections/aortic root/group). Dotted line depicts region used for quantification; values denote lipid burden of aortic root per section in each study group; all values are expressed as mean ± SEM. **p<0.005; ***p<0.0005; ****p<0.0001; NS: not significant.