Imaging the Proangiogenic Effects of Cardiovascular Drugs in a Diabetic Model of Limb Ischemia

Figure 3

(a) Graph showing the number of CD31 positive vessels in the diabetic ischemic hind limb only measured by immunohistochemical assessment of anti-CD31 antibody staining. The number of CD31 positive capillaries was significantly higher in the combined treatment ischemic limb, simvastatin-treated ischemic limb, and metformin-treated ischemic limb from day 8 to day 28 postligation compared to the vehicle-treated ischemic limb (, , 1-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test, mean number of capillaries ± SD). (b) Representative muscle sections taken at day 8 displaying staining for CD31 in the diabetic vehicle-treated ischemic muscle, metformin-treated ischemic muscle, simvastatin-treated ischemic muscle, and combination-treated (D) ischemic muscle (representative nondiabetic image not shown). (c) Graph showing the percentage area of VEGF intense positive staining in diabetic hind limb muscle measured by immunohistochemical assessment of anti-VEGF antibody staining. VEGF staining was significantly higher in the combination-treated ischemic limb from day 8 to day 28 postligation (whereas simvastatin was only significantly higher on days 8 and 14 and metformin on day 8 only) compared to the vehicle-treated ischemic limb (, , , 1-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test, mean % area stained ± SD). (d) Representative muscle sections taken at day 8 displaying staining for VEGF in the diabetic vehicle-treated ischemic muscle, metformin-treated ischemic muscle, simvastatin-treated ischemic muscle, and combination-treated ischemic muscle (representative nondiabetic image not shown).