Fig. 3

Effect of 3 months refeeding after severe food restriction on collagen deposition in the isolated heart. A–D Representative sections of the left ventricle of the heart after staining with Masson’s trichrome in female (A and C) and male (B and D) rats maintained on a normal diet for the duration of the study (CT) or for 3 months after a 2-week severe food restricted period (sFR-Refed) at 200-× magnification. Images are representative of five rats per group. More collagen deposition (green arrows) is observed in male (M)—compared to female (F)-sFR-Refed rats. E Quantitation of collagen deposition in CT and sFR-Refed rats in the hearts of both sexes. Values are expressed as the mean ± SEM; ^#p < 0.05 vs. CT, same sex and *p < 0.05 vs. F, same diet by two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test