Fig. 4.

Effects of alagebrium on expression of CTGF and ECM in AGE-stimulated RASMCs. AGE (50 µg/mL) treatment for 24 hours markedly increased messenger ribonucleic acid expression of collagen type III (A), fibronectin (B) and CTGF (C) in RASMCs. Alagebrium (1 and 10 µM) dose-dependently abolished this effect (^*p<0.05 vs. AGE-treated group, ^**p<0.01 vs. AGE-treated group). CTGF: connective tissue growth factor, ECM: extra-cellular matrix, AGE: advanced glycation end-products, RASMCs: rat aortic vascular smooth muscle cells.