Osteoprotegerin Prevents Development of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Fig 1
Prolonged Dilatation of the Abdominal Aorta in Opg-KO Mice.
(a) Representative aortic images are shown at zero (0 w), one (1 w), and six weeks (6 w) after the application of CaCl2 (AAA) or saline (sham) in wild-type and Opg-KO mice. Scale bars indicate 1 mm. (b) Measurements of the external aortic diameter by weeks (w) after AAA induction. (c) Representative hematoxylin & eosin (HE) staining images are shown. Scale bars indicate 200 μm. (d, e) Measurements of the widths of medial layers (d) and the internal aortic diameter (e) are presented. Data are presented as mean ± SD. The number of samples for analysis is shown in parentheses; *p<0.05 or **p<0.01, as compared with the parametric multiple comparison procedure. (f) Representative aortic Elastica van Gieson (EVG) and Azan staining images are presented. Arrows show partial disruption at one week. Arrowheads show total disruption of elastic lamella (EVG) and irregular accumulation of collagen fibers (Azan) at six weeks after AAA induction in the aortic walls of Opg-KO mice. Scale bars indicate 100 μm.