Figure 1

Representative slides of hematoxylin-eosin staining of proximal aortic tissues. Con: regular diet group (200 ×), showing integrated endothelial cell layer and regular arrangement of smooth muscle cells; Cho-a: cholesterol-rich diet plus methylthiouracil (80 mg/Kg/day) group (200 ×); Cho-b: cholesterol-rich diet plus methylthiouracil group (400 ×), showing smooth muscle cell proliferation, migration toward intima (broken arrow), and lipid deposition (solid arrow); Ros: cholesterol-rich diet plus methylthiouracil and rosiglitazone treatment (200 ×). Smooth muscle cell proliferation and lipid deposition were barely observed in the Ros group.