Figure 1

Histological studies on blood vessels and adipose tissues. (A) I: Normal coronary arteries presented intact endometrium and luminal patency; II: Atherosclerosis in the coronary artery, with a degree of stenosis of approximately 75%; III-IV: Internal mammary artery and radial artery from CAD patients, both showing intact endometrium and luminal patency, respectively; V: Greater saphenous vein from CAD patients presented luminal patency; I-1:Endothelial cells were intact, SCMs and fibers of intercellular layer are orderly arranged, and scarcely any CD68⁺ cells were observed in the adventitia; II-1: Large amounts of CD68⁺ cells infiltrated the adventitia in coronary atherosclerosis, which formed an accumulation zone; III-1~V-1:Internal mammary artery, radial artery and greater saphenous vein were present, respectively, and obvious infiltration of CD68⁺ cells was not observed in the adventitia of each group. I-1~V-1 immunohistochemical staining corresponding to the tissue stained by H&E. (B) The quantity of CD68⁺ cells infiltrated into epicardial adipose tissue in CAD was significantly increased. The bar charts were showing the number of CD68⁺ cells per ×100 field in each section of blood vessels (C) and adipose tissues (D), respectively. Date represented the analysis of minimum of 8 random sections per sample. Values are mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 vs normal coronary artery in C and epicardial adipose tissue in non-CAD patients and subcutaneous fat around greater saphenous vein in CAD patients in D. Abbreviations: CAD, coronary artery disease; SMCs, smooth muscle cells.