Ganoderma Triterpenoids Exert Antiatherogenic Effects in Mice by Alleviating Disturbed Flow-Induced Oxidative Stress and Inflammation

Figure 3

GTs inhibited atherogenesis in the ligated artery. Arterial sections, collected from mice treated with GTs (300 mg/kg/day; s.c.) or DMSO vehicle control (Con) 14 days after ligation as described in Figure 2, were stained with the superoxide indicator dihydroethidium (DHE, red in (a)), TUNEL (for apoptosis, red in (b)), an anti-CD31 (an endothelial cell marker, green) antibody, or an anti-F4/80 antibody (a monocyte/macrophage marker, red in (c)), and counterstained with DAPI for nuclei. Yellow dashed lines delineate the internal elastic lamellae. The tissue above the yellow dashed line is the intima. (a) Arrowheads indicate the superoxide-accumulated endothelial cells (DHE⁺/CD31⁺ ECs with white nuclei) in the Con LCA. Numbers are the percentage of DHE⁺ ECs. (b) Curved arrows indicate the apoptotic ECs (TUNEL⁺, inner lining cells with pink nuclei). Numbers are the percentage of TUNEL⁺ ECs. (c) An arrow indicates the infiltrating macrophages (F4/80⁺, pink nuclei) in the intima. Numbers are the F4/80⁺ cells in the intima of each arterial section. All the numbers in (a), (b), and (c) are means ± SEM from 8 (a, b) or 4 (c) serial sections from each artery ( for each group). Bar: 25 μm. Statistical significance was calculated using two-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey’s tests, , .