Although I could not enlarge the micrograph coupled with some artifact on the slide, It seems to me that there is an on-going inflammatory/degenerative process within the wall of this smooth muscle (aorta)
more information is needed. is this human origin, or is it from an animal treated with cholesterol ? although it is difficult to evaluate the micrograph it looks like inflamation or intimal hyperplasia.
There is observed hypertrophy and hyperplasia of endothelial cells by active neurosecretory vasodilation that leads to an active cell proliferation. In this case the first hypertrophy in order to close the empty sections of the vascular wall , and then a further strengthening of its compensatory mechanism hyperplasia
This appears to be an inflammatory reaction which occurs in hypertension. It is outside of the media, and the cells present here are likely fibroblasts and immune cells. There is substantial matrix deposition, which I suspect is collagen. See Wu et al, Circ Res. 2014 Feb 14;114(4):616-25. In this study, we show a similar deposition in Ang II induced hypertension. Salt likely does the same. Stain the section with Masson's trichrome to see if is indeed collagen.