Fig. 7

Treatment with (Lipo + M)@E NPs significantly alleviates the progression of atherosclerosis. (A) Treatment protocols of ApoE^−/− mice. ApoE^−/− mice were fed an HFD for 3 months. From the second month, all mice received different treatments by i.v. injection twice weekly for the rest of the period. Mice in the Control group were treated with saline alone, while other groups were separately administered with Evol, Lipo@E NPs, and (Lipo + M)@E NPs at the same Evol concentration (5 mg/kg). Representative photograph (B) and quantitative (C) of en face ORO-stained aortas. (D) ORO-stained frozen sections of the aortic root, arch, and abdominal aorta. Quantitative of the relative plaque area in sections of the aorta root (E), aortic arch (F), and abdominal aorta (G). ApoE^−/− mice were fed an HFD for 3 months. From the second month, all mice received different treatments by i.v. injection twice weekly for the rest of the period. Mice in the Control group were treated with saline alone, while other groups were separately administered with Evol, Lipo@E NPs, and (Lipo + M)@E NPs at the same Evol concentration (5 mg/kg). Scale bars = 500 µm. 1: Control, 2: Model, 3: Evol, 4: Lipo@E NPs, 5:(Lipo + M)@E NPs. Data are means ± SD, n = 3, ^###P < 0.001 vs. the Control. ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001 vs. the Model