Figure 1. Experimental design. ApoE-/- mice were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) at 20 weeks of age for 12 weeks, and then randomly divided into HFD group, DC group and EX group. The HFD group continued to have a high-fat diet, the DC group changed to a normal diet(ND), and the EX group performed an eight-week swimming exercise based on the normal diet. C57BL/6J mice with the same genetic background at the age of 20 weeks were used as a control group, and they continued to be fed with a normal diet throughout the experiment. At the end of the protocol, mice were deeply anesthetized with isoflurane and then decapitated.