2.1. Animals
Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (180-200g) were obtained from the
Laboratory Animal Center, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South
University, China (SCXX (XIANG) 2017-0034). Wild type (WT) and LOX-1
knockout (Olr1-/- ) rats were generated by
Cyagen Biosciences (Suzhou, China), as previously described(Ge et al.,
2021). Animal studies are reported
in compliance with the ARRIVE guidelines and with the recommendations
made by the British Journal of Pharmacology . The protocols on the
ethics of animal (No. CSU2017009) were approved by the Medical Animal
Welfare Committee of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South
University. Rats were feed under a 12 h light/dark cycle in a
temperature-controlled and humidity-controlled room with food and water
available ad libitum . Animals were euthanized by cervical
dislocation under isoflurane anaesthesia, after which organs were
harvested.