Impact of Sex and Exercise on Femoral Artery Function: More Favorable Adaptation in Male Rats

Figures

• 

  Figure 1. Phenylephrine induced contraction. Data are shown as means ± SEM; n = 18–20 in each group; analysis: two-way repeated measures ANOVA; test: the Tukey’s post hoc test. Abbreviations: MS—sedentary male; MTr—trained male; FS—sedentary female; FTr—trained female.

• 

  Figure 2. Phenylephrine induced contraction in the presence of NS398, INDO, L-NAME, or DMSO in sedentary male rats (A), in trained male rats (B), in sedentary female rats (C), and in trained female rats (D). Data are shown as means ± SEM; n = 5–17 in each group; analysis: two-way repeated measures ANOVA; test: the Tukey’s post hoc test. † p < 0.05, ††† p < 0.001: DMSO vs. INDO; $$ p < 0.01, $$$ p < 0.001 DMSO vs. L-NAME; § p < 0.05 DMSO vs. NS398. Abbreviations: MS—sedentary male; MTr—trained male; FS—sedentary female; FTr—trained female; DMSO—diluted dimethyl-sulfoxide; NS398—the cyclooxygenase-2 specific inhibitor; L-NAME—nitro-L-arginine methyl ester; INDO—indomethacin.

• 

  Figure 3. Acetylcholine induced relaxation. Data are shown as means ± SEM; n = 15–19 in each group; analysis: two-way repeated measures ANOVA; test: the Tukey’s post hoc test. Abbreviations: MS—sedentary male; MTr—trained male; FS—sedentary female; FTr—trained female.

• 

  Figure 4. Acetylcholine induced relaxation in the presence of NS398, INDO, L-NAME, or DMSO in sedentary male rats (A), in trained male rats (B), in sedentary female rats (C), and in trained female rats (D). Data are shown as means ± SEM; n = 5–19 in each group; analysis: two-way repeated measures ANOVA; test: the Tukey’s post hoc test. $$ p < 0.01, $$$ p < 0.001, $$$$ p < 0.0001 DMSO vs. L-NAME. Abbreviations: MS—sedentary male; MTr—trained male; FS—sedentary female; FTr—trained female; DMSO—diluted dimethyl sulfoxide; NS398—the cyclooxygenase-2 specific inhibitor; L-NAME—nitro-L-arginine methyl ester; INDO—indomethacin.

• 

  Figure 5. (A) Optical density of eNOS labeling in the intimal layer of femoral arteries. Data are presented as individual data points, and lines represent means ± SEM; n= 5–10 in each group; analysis: two-way ANOVA; test: the Tukey’s post hoc test. (B) Representative images of vessels labeled with an anti-eNOS antibody. Scale bar, 50 µm. aa, p < 0.01 MS vs. MTr; bb, p < 0.01 MTr vs. FTr. Abbreviations: MS—sedentary male; MTr—trained male; FS—sedentary female; FTr—trained female; OD—optical density.

• 

  Figure 6. Summary of vascular function changes experienced during a12-week sports adaptation of the femoral artery in a rat model.