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. 2021 Aug 6;22(16):8448. doi: 10.3390/ijms22168448

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Elevated blood pressure (BP) induces atheroma plaque development in ApoE−/− mice. (a) SBP in ApoE−/− mice 6 weeks after injection with AAV-Ren/Ang or AAV-empty vector and after subsequent maintenance for a further 10 weeks on a high fat diet (HFD) (n = 15 animals per group). Data are mean ± SEM. *** p < 0.001 and **** p < 0.0001, 2-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post-test. (b) Serum total cholesterol and (c) serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in AAV-Ren/Ang-injected ApoE−/− mice fed standard chow or the HFD for 10 weeks starting 6 weeks after AAV injection. (d) Schematic representation of the aorta. Aortic sinus, ascending aorta, arch, thoracic aorta, and abdominal aorta are indicated with black arrows. Representative complete aortas from AAV-empty control and AAV-Ren/Ang-injected ApoE−/− mice stained with Oil Red O. Aortas were extracted 10 weeks after starting the HFD. Scale bar, 5 mm. (e) Lesion area in aortas stained as in D. Data in (b,c,e) are mean ± SEM. *** p < 0.001, **** p < 0.0001, Student t-test. (f) Representative Masson’s trichrome, Oil Red O, and H&E staining of the aortic sinus in HFD-fed AAV-Ren/Ang ApoE−/− mice. FC, foam cells; NC, necrotic core; C, collagen lesions; M, tunica media. Scale bars, 200 μm (10×) and 250 μm (15×).