Figure 6

Antagonists of nAchR and α7-nAchR, but not of mAchR, abolish cardioprotective effects of electroacupuncture against MIRI.

Atropine (Atro), mecamylamine (Mec) and methyllycaconitine (MLA) were administered to mice that were later subjected to electroacupuncture and ischemia-reperfusion. Animals were sacrificed and examined after 24 h of reperfusion. (A) Infarct size in each group was calculated as IA/AAR% and AAR/LV% was determined to show reproducibility of the mouse MIRI model (n = 10). (B) Serum levels of cardiac troponin I were measured by ELISA (n = 10). (C,D) Representative images of tissue stained with hematoxylin-eosin are shown together with average histopathology scores (n = 4). (E) Neutrophil infiltration in myocardium was quantified per field (n = 6 for each group; original magnification, ×40). Scale bar, 100 μm. Data are mean ±  SEM. *p < 0.05 vs. IR; ^#p < 0.05 vs. PC6+IR. (Histology scores of injury severity were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis rank test and Mann-Whitney U test. All other data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni correction.) All data come from 3 independent experiments.