Fig 1: Knockout of IL-7R reduced macrophage infiltration and inhibited AAA development. (A) Representative images of the subrenal abdominal aorta in mice of Saline (n = 9), PPE (n = 21), KO + Saline (n = 9), KO + PPE (n = 21) group; (B) The maximum abdominal aortic diameter in each group; (C) The incidence of AAA formation in each group; (D) Kaplan-Meier survival curve of mice in each group; (E-F) EVG staining was used to evaluate the degree of elastin degradation. Representative images of EVG staining (E) and statistical analysis of elastin degradation (F) in abdominal aortic tissue of mice in each group (n = 3), scale bar = 200 µm; (G) Representative immunohistochemical staining of macrophages (CD68+ cells) in abdominal aortic tissue of mice in each group. The illustration shows a high-power image of the macrophages. Scale bar = 200 µm and 100 µm; (H) Quantification of CD68+ positive area in aorta of each group (n = 3); (I) Serum levels of IL-7, CRP and IL-1β in each group were detected by ELISA (n = 6). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.005, ***P < 0.001