Melatonin Ameliorates the Progression of Atherosclerosis via Mitophagy Activation and NLRP3 Inflammasome Inhibition

Figure 1

Melatonin inhibited atherosclerotic lesion progression in vivo. (a) Representative H&E and Masson staining images of atherosclerotic lesions of the aortic root area (). (b) Representative Oil Red staining images of atherosclerotic plaques of aortic root area (). (c) The atherosclerotic plaque size (represented as the ratio of plaque area/lumen area) in the melatonin-treated group as compared with the AS group (0.5769 ± 0.0780 versus 0.3836 ± 0.0340 %, ). versus the AS group. (d) The necrotic core area (represented as the ratio of necrotic core area/whole plaque area) in the melatonin-treated group as compared with the AS group (8.5569 ± 0.2780 versus 7.2636 ± 0.3340 %, ). versus the AS group. (e) The serum IL-1β level measured by the ELISA assay in the melatonin-treated group in comparison with the AS group (167.2 ± 12.7 versus 220.6 ± 8.79 pg/ml, ). versus the Con group; versus the AS group.

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