Cardiac Protection by Oral Sodium Thiosulfate in a Rat Model of L-NNA-Induced Heart Disease

Figures

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  FIGURE 1. STS administration decreases systolic blood pressure. (A) Longitudinal measurements of systolic blood pressure and (B) body weight at the end of the experimental protocol are shown for the four groups. N = 5–8. *L-NNA vs. L-NNA + STS, †L-NNA vs. L-NNA + Lis, ‡L-NNA vs. L-NNA + Lis + STS, aL-NNA + Lis vs. L-NNA + STS, bL-NNA + STS vs. L-NNA + Lis + STS. Two symbols p < 0.01, three symbols p < 0.001. Data previously published (Nguyen et al., 2020).

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  FIGURE 2. Treatment with STS improves systolic function. (A) End-systolic volume and (B) end-diastolic volume were measured to calculate (C) ejection fraction. (D) Heart rate and (E) stroke volume were used to calculate (F) cardiac index in the four groups. N = 5–8. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

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  FIGURE 3. Diastolic function was not affected in L-NNA-induced hypertensive rats. Pulsed-wave and Tissue Doppler imaging were used to calculate (A) E/A ratio and (B) E/e’ ratio to evaluate diastolic function. N = 5–8.

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  FIGURE 4. Treatment with STS improved left ventricular posterior and septal wall hypertrophy. (A) Left ventricular internal diameter (LVIDd), (B) left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWd) and (C) interventricular septal wall thickness (IVSd) during diastole were measured via echocardiography. (D) Left ventricular mass index was calculated from these variables and (E) heart weight was measured at the end of the protocol. N = 5–8. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

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  FIGURE 5. Oral treatment of STS does not lead to metabolic acidosis. (A) pH and (B) HCO3 − were measured in arterial blood via blood gas analysis at the end of the experimental protocol. N = 5–7.

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  FIGURE 6. Oral treatment with STS reduces oxidative stress. The excretion of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in urine was measured as a marker for systemic oxidative stress. N = 4–7. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

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  FIGURE 7. Treatment with STS reduced cardiac fibrosis. Masson Trichrome stained cardiac sections were used to visualize collagen deposition. (A) Representative images and (B) quantification of the fibrotic area in the four groups. N = 5–7. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001.

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  FIGURE 8. Treatment with STS tends to lower cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Cardiac sections were stained with Wheat-Germ Agglutinin-FITC to investigate cardiomyocyte size. (A) Representative images and (B) quantification of the cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area in the four groups. N = 4–7.