Relationship of MMP-14 and TIMP-3 Expression with Macrophage Activation and Human Atherosclerotic Plaque Vulnerability

Table 3

Atherosclerotic plaque characteristics.

Plaque characteristics	Plaque phenotype	Gradation				value
% fat/atheroma; No/<40%/>40%	Fibrous	15 (50%)		15 (50%)	0 (0%)	0.0001
	Fibrous-atheromatous	0 (0%)		11 (92%)	1 (8%)
	Atheromatous	0 (0%)		2 (5%)	35 (95%)
Collagen semiquantitative; (minor/moderate/heavy)	Fibrous	1 (4%)		14 (45%)	15 (52%)	0.0001
	Fibrous-atheromatous	2 (17%)		7 (58%)	3 (25%)
	Atheromatous	17 (46%)		19 (51%)	1 (3%)
SMC semiquantitative; (no/minor/moderate/heavy)	Fibrous	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	10 (33%)	20 (67%)	0.0001
	Fibrous-atheromatous	0 (0%)	3 (25%)	7 (58%)	2 (17%)
	Atheromatous	2 (5%)	30 (81%)	5 (14%)	0 (0%)
SMC quantitative; % plaque area median IQR	Fibrous	4.31 1.73–5.69				0.0001
	Fibrous-atheromatous	1.31 0.39–4.62
	Atheromatous	0.53 0.31–1.07
Macrophage semiquantitative; (no/minor/moderate/heavy)	Fibrous	7 (23%)	20 (67%)	3 (10%)	0 (0%)	0.0001
	Fibrous-atheromatous	3 (25%)	6 (50%)	2 (17%)	1 (8%)
	Atheromatous	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	19 (51%)	18 (49%)
Macrophage quantitative; % plaque area median IQR	Fibrous	0.20 0.05–0.63				0.0001
	Fibrous-atheromatous	0.15 0.06–0.50
	Atheromatous	1.13 0.60–2.52
Thrombus present; (no/minor/moderate/heavy)	Fibrous	13 (43%)	14 (47%)	2 (7%)	1 (3%)	0.0001
	Fibrous-atheromatous	2 (17%)	7 (58%)	1 (8%)	2 (17%)
	Atheromatous	4 (11%)	10 (27%)	16 (43%)	7 (19%)
CD34 staining; Number of vessels median IQR	Fibrous	6.7 3.8–9.5				0.5000
	Fibrous-atheromatous	6.5 3.8–10.4
	Atheromatous	7.0 4.3–11.0

values for differences among the three groups of semiquantitative histological markers and percentage of macrophages and smooth muscle cells were determined using the Kruskal-Wallis test.