Fig. 5

Preserved coronary vasculature in the db/db-ChAT-tg mice. a, b Representative microangiography images (a) and quantitative bar graphs with scatter plots showing the number (b) of first, second, third-order coronary vessels in the db/db and db/db-ChAT-tg mice at early and established stage of diabetes. The 50 μm diameter tungsten wire in the bottom left corner of all angiogram frames serves as a reference. c Representative microangiogram images showing the vasculature in the baseline condition, ACh infusion and SNP infusion in db/db and db/db-ChAT-tg mice at established stage of diabetes. Red arrows indicate third-order coronary vessels, while yellow arrows indicate fourth-order coronary vessels. d, e Quantitative bar graphs with scatter plots showing the number of third and fourth-order coronary vessels in the db/db and db/db-ChAT-tg mice (established stage) before and during ACh (d) and SNP (e) infusion. A non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test was performed. f Representative immunofluorescent images and bar graphs with scatter plots showing the density of capillaries indicated by the number of isolectin-stained endothelial cells in the myocardium of db/db and db/db-ChAT-tg mice at early and established stage of diabetes. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01 vs age-matched db/db mice. The number of samples per group is included in the bars