Research Article

Flaxseed Oil Containing α-Linolenic Acid Ester of Plant Sterol Improved Atherosclerosis in ApoE Deficient Mice

Figure 5

Effects of FO+ALA-PS on mRNA and protein expressions of aortic VCAM-1 (a-b), TNF-α (c-d), MCP-1 (e-f), and IL-6 (g-h) in mice. After combining treated flaxseed oil with ALA-PS for 18 weeks, total RNA was extracted from aorta of mice by Trizol. VCAM-1, TNF-α, MCP-1, and IL-6 mRNA expressions were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. The mRNA of β-actin was quantified as an endogenous control. Aortic lysates were prepared and immunoblotted with corresponding antibody, respectively. Blotting with anti-β-actin was used as a protein loading control. VCAM-1, TNF-α, MCP-1, and IL-6 are presented as fold change relative to Control. Representative immunoblots are shown. Values are given as mean ± standard deviation of the mean (). versus the control; versus the HFD group; versus the FO group.
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