Fibrosis following ischemia-reperfusion in treated rats.

At 21 days following infarction, fibrosis was measured by staining for collagen using picrosirius red (red stain, images taken at 20× magnification). A) Shows 2 representative stitched heart sections used for quantification (IR alone and IR + PEG/VEGF/HGF. B) Grouped data (mean ± SEM; n≥7 per group) demonstrating a significant decrease in fibrotic area in PEG/HGF/VEGF rats compared with IR alone (*p<0.05; ANOVA followed by Student-Newman-Keuls post-test). PEG = polyethyleneglycol, VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor, HGF = hepatocyte growth factor, IR = ischemia reperfusion, LV = left ventricle.