Figure 3
Morphological changes in blood vessels for the complex-dose groups. Aortas were carefully dissected from the iliac bifurcation to the aortic arch and external fatty deposits were removed. Complete aortas were collected at day 43 (complex-dose group), with five aortas selected from each group, and observed by light microscopy following HE staining (200× magnification). In the diabetic control group, the vascular wall had thickened and atherosclerotic plaques were present. Plaque surfaces had a fibrous cap (red arrow). Under the fibrous cap, there were a large number of foam cells along with formation of white cholesterol crystals (green arrow). In the reduced β2GP I group, the structure of the vessel wall was intact (yellow arrow), with no thickening of the endothelium and no significant foam cell formation.