Figure 5

Macrophage infiltration and cytokine gene expression. (a) Immunohistochemical analysis of the monocyte–macrophage marker CD68 of the LV myocardium of DS/lean and DS/obese rats at 15 weeks of age. Scale bars, 50 μm. (b) Density of CD68-positive cells determined from sections similar to those in (a). (c–e) Quantitative real-time (RT) PCR analysis of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), TNF-α and IL-6 mRNAs in the left ventricle of DS/lean and DS/obese rats at 15 weeks of age, respectively. The amount of each mRNA was normalized by that of 18S rRNA and then expressed relative to the mean value for DS/lean rats. Data in (b) through (e) are means±s.e.m. for surviving animals (n=10 and 14 for DS/lean and DS/obese rats, respectively). *P<0.05 vs. DS/lean rats.