Fig. 6.

A: H₂O₂ (10⁻⁴ mol/l)-induced increases in cytoplasmic histone-associated DNA fragments in aorta segments isolated from 3- and 24-mo-old F344XBN rats, indicating an increased rate of apoptosis in aged vessels. Data are means ± SE (n = 6). *P < 0.05 vs. no treatment; #P < 0.05 vs. 3 mo old. B: inverse relationship between expression of GCLC and H₂O₂-induced caspase 3/7 activation in aorta segments isolated from 3-, 12-, 18-, 24-, and 28-mo-old F344XBN rats. The regression is significant (P = 0.001; r² = 0.98). C: inverse relationship between expression of NQO1 and H₂O₂-induced caspase 3/7 activation. The regression approaches significance (P = 0.06; r² = 0.74). Data are means ± SE (n = 4–6 for each data point).