Vitamin A-Deficient Diet Accelerated Atherogenesis in Apolipoprotein E^−/− Mice and Dietary β-Carotene Prevents This Consequence

Figure 4

Atherosclerotic lesion area in apoE^−/− mice fed chow or vitamin A-deficient diet with or without β-carotene. The atherosclerotic lesion area was quantified at the aortic sinus by oil-red O staining of the lipids after 15 weeks of treatment (a). One representative aortic sinus lesion section is shown for each treatment group (magnification ×40). Red color indicates the presence of atherosclerotic lesions (b). The vitamin A-deficient diet significantly increased the atherosclerotic lesion area while β-carotene reverts this effect. Values are means ± SE, = 13–15. Within the graph, means without a common letter differ, . Dunaliella treated group (BC); vitamin A-deficient diet group (VAD); vitamin A-deficient diet fortified with Dunaliella group (VAD-BC).

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