Fig. 3

Echocardiographic parameters of the animals. At follow-up, a significantly reduced ejection fraction was seen in the D-CON and POST groups compared to CON, while the ejection fraction in the PRE group remained preserved (a). A slight increase in the IVRT was observed in the DOX-treated animals, which was statistically significant in the POST animals compared to that in CON (b). A slight decrease in the longitudinal strain rate was observed in the DOX-treated animals, which was more apparent in the D-CON and POST groups (c). Representative recordings of M-mode and Doppler mode echocardiography (d). Illustration of strain imaging in the rat heart (e). IVRT = isovolumetric relaxation time. n number of animals per group (3 measurements per animal, except for single strain measurements); Statistics: Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test; *p ≤ 0.05 vs. CON; ⁺p ≤ 0.05 vs. D-CON; ^§p ≤ 0.05 vs. PRE; ^{^}p ≤ 0.05 vs. POST; ^#p ≤ 0.05 vs. day 0; ^†p ≤ 0.05 vs. day 51