This paper, published in January 2020, shared several figures with a 2014 paper by Zhiping Liu et al. and a January 2020 paper by Ming Hong et al. This was pointed out to me by a reader via Twitter.

The three papers have non-overlapping affiliated institutions and authors. The compounds tested also appear to be very different.

1. Liu et al. 2014 - Journal of Lipid Research (2014) - Tanshinone IIA suppresses cholesterol accumulation in human macrophages: role of heme oxygenase-1

DOI: 10.1194/jlr.m040394 - https://pubpeer.com/publications/7A3C693271DB73005FFEAA5613FB50 Affiliations: Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou Forensic Science Institute, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, RMIT University, National Institutes of Health.

2. Xue-Juan Yang et al., Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology (2020) - Berberine Attenuates Cholesterol Accumulation in Macrophage Foam Cells by Suppressing AP-1 Activity and Activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway

DOI: 10.1097/fjc.0000000000000769 - https://pubpeer.com/publications/DCE136D78E4E40914406DCF0196F35 Affiliations: Yingchuan Second People's Hospital, Ningxia Medical University, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

3. Ming Hong et al., Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Jan 2020) - Resveratrol Derivative, Trans ‐3, 5, 4′‐Trimethoxystilbene, Prevents the Developing of Atherosclerotic Lesions and Attenuates Cholesterol Accumulation in Macrophage Foam Cells [This paper]

DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.201901115 - https://pubpeer.com/publications/D13E126D1D97EEF567361E2CD16715

Affiliations: Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University of Kansas.

Here are the three papers' title pages:

Here are the Figures 1 of the three papers, marked with red boxes, with panels that look remarkably similar. Only the labels appear to differ.

Figures 2, marked with blue boxes, are remarkably similar as well:

Figures 3, marked with green boxes:

A comparison of Figure 4's panels, marked with pink boxes:

Figures 5 of papers #1 and 2, with Figure 6 of paper #3, marked with orange boxes:

Figures 6 of papers #1 and 2, with Figure 7 of paper #3, marked with purple boxes:

Tables 1 of papers #2 and 3 are also remarkably similar. Marked with cyan boxes.

Could the authors please comment on the unexpected similarities between figures in this paper and two other papers from 2014 and 2020, by very different groups of authors?

Figure 1 of this paper has some panels there were not found in papers #1 or 2.

However, Figure 1A's aorta photo appears to correspond to Figure 1A of Yong-Hoon Kim et al., Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 2017, DOI: 10.3892/etm.2017.5271, published years before this paper. That paper's affiliation is Seoul National University in Korea, and there are no overlapping authors.

Shown with brown boxes.

Figure 1E's panels appear to correspond to those in Figure 4A of Meng Du et al., J Am Heart Assoc. (2016), DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.116.004440.

Shown with teal boxes. Some panels appear to be shown in mirror image.

Could the authors please comment on the unexpected similarities between figures in this paper and two other papers from 2016 and 2017, by very different groups of authors?

An additional concern about Figure 3C, which panels did not appear to match one of the other papers listed above.

• Yellow boxes: The 0 uM and 1 uM TMS Dil-oxLDL panels appear to overlap. The Hoechst merged image of the 1 uM experiment does not match the upper panel.

An additional concern about Figures 2A and 4B.

• Cyan boxes: The ABCA1 panel of Figure 1A appears to match the mirror image of the c-Fos panel in Figure 4B.
• Green boxes: The GAPDH panels of both figures appear to be showing the same blot, but these might be the same experiments.

I am also concerned about the animal experiments described in this study. A majority of the photos shown in this paper appears to match photos of other experiments published years earlier by different authors. How does this match the animal experiments described here, 'supervised and approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee in the University of Kansas (Approval number: AM (KU) 2018-0279)'?

Can the authors please share what type of experiments were approved under this permit?

Retracted 4 October 2023.

"The above article, published online on 22 January 2020, in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the journal's Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Julia Reuter, and Wiley-VCH GmbH. Following publication, the journal was contacted by the University of Kansas who indicated that three of the co-authors, Jinke Li, Siying Li and Mohammed M. Almutairi, whose affiliations had been noted at the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Kansas, were not affiliated with the university. In addition, the journal was made aware of concerns raised by third parties regarding this article which evidences image duplication between Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7, and Table 1 in this article and two other articles purporting to show different data. The authors were contacted to ask for their explanation of the concerns raised, but no response was received. The retraction has been agreed as the editorial team no longer have confidence in the reported results and conclusions given the significant overlap between the results reported in the Figures and other published articles."