Figure 4.

Castration improves cardiac outcomes in male mice. (A) Scheme detailing sample collection from mice prior to or after castration. (B) Serum levels of testosterone at indicated time points post-castration (n = 6). (C) Ejection fraction (%) in castrated mice before and after swim test (n = 3). (D) Representative H&E staining (top; 20× original magnification) and ultrastructural images (10,000× original magnification) from left ventricle post-exercise in WT and ${\text{ARE}}^{-/-}$ castrated mice. (E) Measurement of myocyte mitochondrial complex 1 activity after 8 weeks post-recovery from castration surgery in WT and ${\text{ARE}}^{-/-}$ mice. (F, G) In vitro responses of the myocyte cell line (HL-1) to testosterone (T; 3,000 pg/ml) and $\text{IFN-}\gamma$ (10 IU/ml) after 5 days of treatment (n = 16). (F) Mitochondrial density (mitodensity). (G) Note that combined treatment with T and $\text{IFN-}\gamma$ decreases mitochondrial function as assessed by TMRM signal normalized by mitodensity. Values are expressed as a percentage of control. Experiments were repeated twice, unless otherwise indicated. ‘n’ denotes animals per group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p ≤ 0.0001.