Fig. 4

Effect of 3 months refeeding after severe food restriction followed by ischemia/reperfusion on cardiac pathology in the isolated heart. A–H Representative sections of the left ventricle of the heart after staining with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) in female (F) and male (M) 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) with subsequent exposure of the isolated heart to a 30 min period of ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion (I/R) at 200× (A–D) and 1000× (E–H) magnification. Images are representative of five rats per group. Greater interstitial space (blue arrow), fiber constrictions (black box) and focal cell lysis (black circle) are more prominent in sFR-Refed + I/R rats of both sexes compared to their same sex CT + I/R groups. I Gaussian Kernel density estimates of cardiomyocyte thickness from H&E-stained hearts. The color coded vertical dashed lines represent the mean in each animal group. J The percentage of cardiomyocytes below (A, atrophied) and above (H, hypertrophied) the cardiomyocyte diameter normal (N) range (depicted by two black vertical lines). 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