Fig. 5

Effect of 3 months refeeding after severe food restriction followed by ischemia/reperfusion 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) with subsequent exposure of the isolated heart to a 30 min period of ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion (I/R) 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 + I/R rats. E Quantitation of collagen deposition in the isolated heart of CT and sFR-Refed rats in 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