ZnO Nanoparticles Induce Dyslipidemia and Atherosclerotic Lesions Leading to Changes in Vascular Contractility and Cannabinoid Receptors Expression as Well as Increased Blood Pressure

Figures

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  Figure 1. Representative images of aorta sections stained with hematoxylin-eosin. (a) control or healthy rat, (b) ZnONPs-One month treated rat, (c) ZnONPs-Two months treated rat, and (d) ZnONPs-Three months treated rat. All images were acquired with 10× magnification.

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  Figure 2. Effect of ZnONPs on the aortic wall thickness. Blue bars correspond to the control non-treated group; green bars correspond to the ZnONPs treated-groups at different times. a, there is a significant difference compared to the control group with p < 0.05.

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  Figure 3. Illustrative images showing atherosclerotic lesions after of the treatment with ZnONPs: (a) control or healthy rat, (b) ZnONPs-1 month treated rat, (c) ZnONPs-2 months treated rat, and (d) ZnONPs-3 months treated rat. All images were acquired with 10× magnification.

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  Figure 4. Effect of ZnONPs on aorta contractility. (a) Effect of ACPA (CB1 receptor agonist) on contraction in aortic rings in different experimental groups. (b) Effect of HU308 (CB2 receptor agonist) on contraction in aortic rings in different experimental groups. Blue bars correspond to the control non-treated group, green bars correspond to the ZnONPs treated-groups at different times; (a) there is a significant difference compared to the phenylephrine group with p < 0.05; (b) there is a significant difference compared to the control group with p < 0.05.

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  Figure 5. Effect of ZnONPs on the CB1 and CB2 receptors expression in the aorta wall. (a) CB1 expression, (b) CB2 expression. Blue bars correspond to the control non-treated group, green bars correspond to the ZnONPs treated-groups at different times; (a) there is a significant difference compared to the control group with p < 0.05.

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  Figure 6. Representative images showed ZnONPs effect on CB1 and CB2 receptors expression in aorta wall. Transmitted light images (grey). Scale bar corresponds to 50 μm. Smooth muscle α-actin was detected with a specific antibody labeled with Alexa Fluor 568 (red). CB1 and CB2 located on the aorta ring were detected by specific antibodies and labeled with FITC (green). Image overlap indicates a high degree of colocalization of CB1 or CB2, and smooth muscle α-actin (yellow). Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI dye (blue).