IL-5 links adaptive and natural immunity specific for epitopes of oxidized LDL and protects from atherosclerosis
J. Clin. Invest. Christoph J. Binder, et al. 114:427 doi:10.1172/JCI20479 [Go to this article.]

Figure 2
Decreased atherosclerosis and dominant Th2 response in immunized LDLR^–/– mice. Mice were immunized with homologous MDA-LDL (n = 10) or PBS (n = 11) in Freund’s adjuvant, and then fed a high-cholesterol diet for 13 weeks, during which they received further booster immunizations. (A) Lipoprotein profiles at time of death in pooled plasma of all mice immunized with MDA-LDL (filled circles) or PBS (open circles) as determined by FPLC. (B) Decreased atherosclerotic lesion size in cross-sections through the aortic origin in mice immunized with MDA-LDL. Values are mean ± SEM in mm²/section. (C and D) Plasma IgG1 (filled circles) and IgG2a (open circles) dilution curves of binding to MDA-LDL of mice immunized with (C) MDA-LDL or (D) PBS. Values are the mean ± SEM of all final plasma samples for each group measured in duplicate. (E and F) ELISpot assay of frequencies of MDA-LDL–specific cytokine-secreting cells in the spleens of mice immunized with (E) MDA-LDL or (F) PBS. Splenocytes were incubated overnight in the absence or presence of murine MDA-LDL with and without anti-CD28, and the frequencies of MDA-LDL–specific IFN-γ (white bars) or IL-5 (black bars) SFCs were assessed. Bars represent the mean SFCs ± SEM of 2 × 10⁶ cells of all mice for each group. P < 0.01, Student’s paired t test.