Figure 5
Measurement of cardiac remodeling in left ventricular (LV) tissues from control and adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rats. (A, B) Expression of angiotensin II type I receptor (AT1R) LV from AIA rats. Total proteins and RNA were extracted in LV tissues of control and AIA rats and processed to AT1R protein (A) and mRNA (B) determination by Western blotting and real-time PCR, respectively. (C) Cardiac collagen content in LV tissues was detected by the picosirius red polarization method. Histological sections obtained from control and AIA rats were stained with picosirius red solution and examined under circularly polarized light to visualize interstitial collagen by its red coloration. Surface staining for collagen was calculated as a percentage of the total surface. Values are the mean ± SEM of three experiments. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 (CTL versus AIA), #P < 0.05, &P < 0.01 (AIA versus AIA+Ram) by one-way ANOVA. CTL, control; Ram, ramipril.