Milk‐Derived Kefir Improves Cardiac Function in Female Rats Subjected to Myocardial Infarction

Figures

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  FIGURE 1. Hemodynamic assessment of infarcted rats chronically treated with kefir. (A, B) Maximum and minimum pressure derivatives (±dP/dt), respectively. (C) Left ventricular end‐diastolic pressure (LVEDP). (D) Tau (time constant of isovolumic relaxation). S: sham group; IV: infarcted vehicle group; IK: infarcted kefir‐treated group. Data are presented as mean ± SEM (n = 8 per group). Statistical analysis was performed using one‐way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. ∗ p < 0.05.

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  FIGURE 2. Assessment of infarct size in kefir‐treated animals. (A, B) Representative images of the cardiac infarct area from vehicle‐treated (A) and kefir‐treated (B) animals. (C) Quantification of infarct extension in both groups. IV: Infarcted vehicle group; IK: infarcted kefir‐treated group. Data are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) (n = 8 per group). Statistical analysis was performed using an unpaired t‐test. # p < 0.05.

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  FIGURE 3. Assessment of collagen deposition in kefir‐treated animals. Representative images of cardiac tissue under brightfield (A–C) and polarized light (D–F), respectively. (G) Quantification of collagen content in animals from different groups. S: sham group; IV: infarcted vehicle group; IK: infarcted kefir‐treated group. Data are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) (n = 8 per group). Statistical analysis was performed using one‐way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. ∗ p < 0.05; # p < 0.05.

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  FIGURE 4. Effect of kefir on oxidative stress markers in myocardial tissue after infarction. (A) TBARS: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. (B) AOPP: advanced oxidation protein products. S: sham group; IV: infarcted vehicle group; IK: infarcted kefir‐treated group. Data are presented as mean ± SEM (n = 8 per group). Statistical analysis was performed using one‐way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s test. # p < 0.05.