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Figure 6
DS and DR rats were treated with curcumin (50 mg/kg/d) or vehicle (1% gum arabic) for 7 weeks. Then, plasma BNP levels were measured (B), and left ventricles were subjected to real-time PCR analysis for BNP and GAPDH (A) and to histological analysis (C–F). (C) Representative photographs of H&E-stained sections of LV myocardium from vehicle- and curcumin-treated DS rats. Magnification, ×400. Scale bar: 10 μm. (D) Myocardial cell diameters in left ventricles were measured for at least 50 cells in each animal. (E) Representative photographs of Masson trichrome–stained sections of LV myocardium from vehicle- and curcumin-treated DS rats. Original magnification, ×200. Scale bar: 20 μm. (F) Areas of perivascular fibrosis in left ventricles were measured for at least 10 intramyocardial coronary arteries in each animal. Results in A, B, D, and F are expressed as mean ± SEM from 3 rats in each DR group, 8 rats in the vehicle-treated DS group, and 6 rats in the curcumin-treated DS group.