Fig. 5

The effects of sex and CKD on the cardioprotection conferred by IPRE. A Representative images of the estrus cycle in female rats; B representative images of myocardial infarction stained by triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride (TTC), and C infarct size (IS). Values are means ± SEM, n = 8–8 in males (in every subgroup) and n = 9–19 in females (sham I/R: n = 9, sham IPRE + I/R: n = 10, CKD I/R: n = 19, and CKD IPRE + I/R: n = 19) for IS, *p < 0.05, IPRE + I/R vs. I/R subgroups, #p < 0.05, females vs. males, p-values refer to three-way ANOVA (Holm–Sidak post hoc test). CKD chronic kidney disease, IPRE ischemic preconditioning, I/R ischemia/reperfusion