Fig. 5
Effects of diabetes mellitus and cinaciguat on myocardial hypertrophy and apoptosis. a Relative mRNA expression of pathological hypertrophy markers atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) (P value of diabetes × treatment interaction in the two-factorial ANOVA, Pinteraction = 0.036), β myosin heavy chain (MHC) to α-MHC ratio and the apoptosis marker Bcl2-associated X protein (BAX) to B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) ratio (n = 5–6/group). b Mean cardiomyocyte diameter (Pinteraction = 0.002) (as marker of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy) and quantification of TUNEL-positive cardiomyocyte nuclei (Pinteraction = 0.009). (n = 9–11/group). c Representative images of hematoxylin—eosin stained sections and TUNEL assay of the left ventricle. Magnification: ×400, Scale bar 40 µm. Groups: vehicle-treated control (Co), cinaciguat-treated control (CoCin), vehicle-treated diabetic (DiabCo) and cinaciguat-treated diabetic (DiabCin). Bar graphs represent mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 vs. Co, †P < 0.05 vs. DiabCo (Tukey HSD test)