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. 2023 Feb 22;8(4):e165713. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.165713

Figure 3. IGF-1 reduces coronary atherosclerosis and promotes features of stable atherosclerotic plaque.

Figure 3

IGF-1 increased vascular media (A and B), reduced atherosclerotic plaque cross-sectional area (CSA) (C), decreased necrotic core (D), and elevated thickness of fibrous cap (E). RCA and LAD were isolated from IGF-1– and saline-injected FH pigs and further cut onto 6 sequential fragments for embedding in paraffin. Trichrome-stained cross sections were obtained from each fragment and used for morphological analysis. n = 30 per RCA or LAD per group for males and n = 54 for females. (A) Representative images of RCA sections obtained from FH males and females. Tunica media (TM), atherosclerotic plaque (AP), fibrous cap (FC), and necrotic cores (NCs) were manually outlined to quantify TM and AP CSA, and results were normalized per EEM area. The thickness of FC was calculated as the mean length of 5 arbitrary lines distributed across the cap area. *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.005 vs. saline based on unpaired 2-tailed t test.