Fig. 4

A Ratio of collagen fibers in heart sections obtained from the two groups of rats, measured by Masson’s trichrome staining. Levels of TNF-a (B), NF-κB (C), mTOR (D), IL-6 (E), and CASP3 (F) measured by immunohistochemical analysis of heart sections. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (two-sample t-test). G Masson’s trichrome staining of sections obtained from the two groups of rats. Immunohistochemical analysis of sections stained for TNF-a (H), NF-κB (I), mTOR (K), IL-6 (L), and CASP3 (M). Yellow–brown represents positive expression. J Staining with Oil Red O (scale: 1 mm). Abbreviations: CASP3, caspase 3; IL-6, interleukin-6; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin; NF-κB, nuclear factor-kappa B; TNF-a, tumor necrosis factor-alpha