Figure 2. Impaired NO bioavailability and aortic inflammation in diet-induced obese mice.
(A) Vasorelaxation to acetylcholine (1×10−9-1×10−5 mol/L) in aortas from mice fed ND or HFHS diet. n=5 each group; *, p<0.05. (B) Transglutaminase-2 (TG-2) activity, an index of NO bioavailability, measured on aortic lysates from ND- and HFHS-fed mice. Dot blot intensity quantitation expressed graphically as % normal diet. n=4 each group. *, p<0.05. (C) Inflammatory cytokines TNFα, MCP-1 and MIP1α mRNA were significantly upregulated in aortic extracts from HFHS-fed mice (n=8) compared to ND (n=8). Data are expressed as fold change over ND. *, p<0.05.