FIGURE 3.

Sex-specific differences in lesion lipid burden, plaque area and collagen content in MetS KKAy^+/–ApoE^–/– and non-MetS KKAy^–/–ApoE^–/– mice. Serial sections of equivalent regions of the aortic root were stained with 0.5% Oil red O (ORO) followed by hematoxylin counterstaining. ORO-positive area (measured in μm²) was quantified using Image J. Shown are (A) representative ORO-stained aortic root sections, (B) summary data for ORO-positive area. n = 7–9 mice per genotype per sex (2–5 sections per mouse). Aortic root serial sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Aortic root luminal area and total aortic root area (i.e., area enclosed by the internal elastic lamina in mm²) were measured using Image J; difference between total root area and luminal area denotes plaque area. Shown are (C) representative images for H&E-staining, (D) summary data for plaque area. n = 5–8 mice per genotype per sex (4–5 sections per mouse). Identical aortic root sections were stained with Masson’s Trichrome (MT) followed by hematoxylin counterstaining. MT-positive area (measured in μm²) depicting collagen content was quantified in Image J. Shown are (E) representative images for MT staining and (F) summary data for collagen content, n > 12 individual sections for each genotype per sex. All images were captured at 10× magnification. ****p < 0.0001.