The Role of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Pathways in Different Models of Cardiac Hypertrophy in Rats

Figures

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  Figure 1. Body weight (A) and hemoglobin concentration (B) of the control (black circles) and low- iron-diet white circles) rats over 27 weeks of the experiment. *** p < 0.001 vs. anemia, (#) = number.

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  Figure 2. Iron (Fe2+) (A) and transferrin (TRF) (B) levels in the anemic and control groups. Control (black circles) and low-iron-diet rats (white squares) in each month of the experiment. ** p < 0.01 vs. anemia, *** p < 0.001 vs. anemia, ### p < 0.001 vs. baseline, ## p < 0.01 vs. Baseline, (#) = number.

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  Figure 3. Complete blood count (CBC) results. RBC concentration (A), MCH (B), MCHC (C), MCV (D), percent of microcytic red blood cells (E), and percent of hypochromic red blood cells (F) in the control (black circles) and low-iron-diet rats (white squares) throughout the experiment. * p < 0.05 vs. control. ** p < 0.01 vs. control, *** p < 0.001 vs. control, (#) = number.

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  Figure 4. Representative echocardiographic images of control (A) and anemic rats (B) from the short-axis view at the papillary muscle level showing a dilated left ventricle in the anemic model.

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  Figure 5. Representative echocardiographic images of anemic rats (A), aortic stenosis rats (B), and control rats (C). The LV diastolic diameter was measured in this view.

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  Figure 6. Representative histological (H&E-stained) sections of the hearts taken from the various models. (A) Anemia-eccentric hypertrophy heart. (B) AS-concentric hypertrophy heart and (C) control. The anemic heart cavity is wider than the control, and concomitantly, the AS sample is characterized by thicker LV walls. Magnification (×3).

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  Figure 7. Representative H&E stain cross-sections from anemic (A), aortic stenosis (B), and control (C) groups. In the AS rats, the tissue is thicker and darker, while in the anemic rats, the tissue is sparse and thin compared to the control group. Magnification ×100.

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  Figure 8. HW (A) and HW to BW ratio (B) of anemic (white column) and control rats (black column).

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  Figure 9. HW (A) and HW/BW ratio (B) in the AS rats (black column) vs. control rats (grey column). * p < 0.05 vs. control, *** p < 0.001 vs. control.

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  Figure 10. SEM of samples taken from the cardiac PM level. Transverse (A) and longitudinal (B) positions of control (normal) heart section. Transverse (C) and longitudinal (D) positions of anemic (eccentric) heart section. Magnification ×50,000.

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  Figure 11. SEM images at the PM level. Transverse (A) and longitudinal (B) positions of control (normal) heart section. Transverse (C) and longitudinal (D) positions of AS (concentric) heart section. Magnification ×50,000.

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  Figure 12. Representative Western blots of ERK1/2 (A) and densitometry analysis of Western blots (B) in anemic (white column), control (light grey column), and AS (black column) groups. Each column represents the mean ± SD density blots.