Cinnamaldehyde Mitigates Atherosclerosis Induced by High-Fat Diet via Modulation of Hyperlipidemia, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation

Figure 6

Photomicrograph (a) of cardiac muscle sections of normal diet group showing arranged cardiac muscle fibers with vesicular nuclei (arrow). The fibers are branching and anastomose with each other. Photomicrograph (b) of cardiac muscle sections of HFD-administered group showing degenerated cardiac muscle with deposition of fat (intracytoplasmic fat vacuoles) (yellow arrow), mononuclear cellular infiltration (red arrow), degenerated wall of the congested artery and arterial wall with fat deposition (black arrow), degenerated wall of the congested artery, and focal necrosis and vacuoles in cardiomyocytes (black arrow); (c) cardiac muscle degeneration (yellow arrow) with infiltration of inflammatory cells (red arrow), and myocytes that lost their striations (black arrow) and pyknotic nuclei; and (d) severe degenerated cardiac muscle (yellow arrow) and fragmented cardiomyocytes and some of them lose their nuclei (black arrow), while others reveal pyknotic nuclei and mononuclear cellular infiltration (red arrow). Photomicrographs (e, f) of cardiac muscle sections of HFD-administered rats treated with cinnamaldehyde showed notable heart histological architecture and integrity improvement of the heart. H&E 400x.

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