Fig. 1

Diabetes aggravates atherosclerotic lesions. A Schematic diagram showing animal experiment procedures. Mice were treated as depicted and at the end of the experiment, the heart and aorta were harvested for tissue staining and RT-qPCR analysis. B Representative confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) images showing the localization of apoptosis cells by TUNEL staining and CD68⁺ macrophage cells in the atherosclerotic plaques of aortic roots. Scale bar = 100 or 10 µm. C RT‐qPCR analysis of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine mRNA levels in lesioned aorta. Data are presented as mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01