Figure 5.

Vascular effects of different Rac1 inhibitors: atherosclerosis and macrophage infiltration. ApoE^−/− mice were fed a cholesterol-rich diet for 7 weeks and were concomitantly treated with vehicle, LT (0.1 μg LT/week), NSC 23766 (10 mg/kg/d), or simvastatin (20 mg activated simvastatin/kg/d). All three compounds significantly reduced atherosclerotic plaque formation in the aortic root compared to vehicle-control. (A) Representative histological cross-sections. Scale bars indicate 0.5 mm. (B) Quantification of atherosclerotic plaque formation, expressed as plaque area in percent of total area (*p < 0.05 vs. vehicle, n = 3–5 per group). Furthermore, all three compounds significantly reduced macrophage infiltration of atherosclerotic plaques in these mice. (C) Representative MOMA-2 immunohistochemical staining using a monoclonal rat anti-mouse MOMA-2 antibody. Scale bars indicate 0.15 mm. (D) Quantification of macrophages infiltrating aortic atherosclerotic plaques (*p < 0.05 vs. vehicle, n = 3–4 per group).