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. 2021 Oct 7;122(2):196–207. doi: 10.1055/a-1663-8208

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The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Fig. 4 — Inhibition of FXIIa via antibody 3F7 stabilizes vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. ApoE ^−/− mice were placed on an HFD for 6 weeks prior to TS surgery. Following surgery, animals remained on the HFD for 7 weeks and 3F7 or BM4 isotype control was administered. ( A ) H&E was used to morphologically assess plaque size ( p = 0.0101; BM4 n = 16; 3F7 n = 17) and ( B ) necrotic core area ( p = 0.0391; BM4 n = 14; 3F7 n = 19) in unstable plaques, as compared with the BM4-treated animals. ( C ) Oil-red O staining was used to assess the lipid deposition within the plaques ( p = 0.0429; BM4 n = 15; 3F7 n = 18). Picro-Sirius Red was used to assess the degree of protective collagen deposition within the plaques, with histological examination performed using BF and polarized light. ( D ) The total intimal collagen deposition, ( E ) fibrous cap thickness, and ( F ) cap-to-core ratio, as compared with BM4-treated animals ( p -values = 0.0004; 0.0197; 0.0015; BM4 n = 16; 3F7 n = 20). ( G ) Intimal smooth-muscle cell deposition ( p = < 0.0001; BM4 n = 12; 3F7 n = 18) and ( H ) intra-plaque hemorrhage, as indicated by erythrocyte/TER119 staining ( p = 0.0029; BM4 n = 12; 3F7 n = 11). Isotype refers to the isotype control for the antibody used in the respective immunohistochemical stain. Assays were assessed using unpaired Student's t -tests. Values are mean ± SD. Scale bars = 200 µm. α-SM, α-smooth muscle; BF, brightfield; FXII, factor 12; FXIIa, activated factor 12; H&E, hematoxylin and eosin; HFD, high-fat diet; SD, standard deviation.