Vascular Inflammation and Oxidative Stress: Major Triggers for Cardiovascular Disease

Figure 5

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and vasculoprotective effects by empagliflozin therapy in ZDF rats. (a) Representative (immuno)histochemical stainings of pancreatic tissue for insulin, glucagon, and nuclei using fluorescent antibodies and dyes. (b) Improvement of endothelium-dependent relaxation by the vasodilator acetylcholine (ACh) in U46,619-preconstricted aortic ring segments. (c) Dihydroethidium (DHE, 1 μM) fluorescence microtopography was used to assess the effects of SGLT2i treatment on whole vascular wall ROS production, and representative microscope images are shown (red fluorescence indicates ROS formation whereas green fluorescence represents basal laminae autofluorescence). Linear regression analysis for correlations between HbA1c and endothelial function (ACh efficacy, d), zymosan A-induced whole blood oxidative burst (e), and serum CRP levels (f) using a total of 35-41 rats. vs. the control. Adopted from Steven et al. [272] (with permission from Elsevier. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.).

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