Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 3 pp 3661—3679

Figure 1. High-salt intake predisposes fibrin deposition, macrophage infiltration and atherosclerosis formation in aortas of ApoE^-/- mice. (A) The schematic diagram shows the process of fibrin deposition, macrophage infiltration and atherosclerosis formation. (B, C) Representative sections of the AA region in ApoE^-/- mice stained for fibrin and macrophage marker F4/80 (n = 7). Nuclei, hematoxylin staining. Fibrin and F4/80-positive macrophages were marked respectively by arrow heads. (D) Oil Red O staining of the artery and quantification of percentage lesion areas in the thoracic aorta (TA) and aortic arch (AA) of ApoE^-/- mice (n = 10) fed with a normal or high-salt diet for 12 weeks. (E) En face immunofluorescent staining of PAI-1 (red) in ECs of TA and AA regions of ApoE^-/- mice in normal and high salt groups after 4 weeks feeding. Nuclei were stained by DAPI. All data were presented as mean ± SEM, N≥7. *p < 0.05 versus control group.