Figure 3

Peak Ca²⁺ Transients are Blunted in Response to Hyperglycemia in Culture. A) Basal intracellular Ca²⁺ concentrations increased in VSMCs when grown in high glucose conditions as opposed to low or medium glucose (n = 30 cells/group). * Indicates p < 0.0001. B) Stimulation of cells with vasopressin (time 0) and thapsigargin (TSG, arrow) illustrated blunted responses in cells grown in high glucose (n = 29 cells). C) The plot of the amplitude of the response to each agonist (normalized for the different basal Ca²⁺ levels) illustrates the differences in the peak responses to vasopressin and thapsigargin (* indicates p < 0.05; n = 97 cells in low glucose and 138 in high glucose conditions).