Fig. 1.

Echocardiographic analysis and gross examination of the Akita^ins2 heart at 20 weeks of age compared with wild-type (WT) controls. A: representative M-mode images of WT and Akita^ins2 mice. B: gross examination of the hearts of WT and Akita^ins2 shows decreased cardiac size as well as significantly decreased heart weight/body weight ratio. C: ventricular indexes: left ventricular inner diameter diastole and systole (LVIDd/s) are smaller in the Akita^ins2 heart. D: cardiac function was not significantly different between the Akita^ins2 and WT controls as determined by percent fractional shortening (%FS). E: heart rates were not significantly different (n = 5 WT; n = 7 Akita). F: pressure-volume analysis of Akita^ins2 mice and WT controls. Representative baseline pressure-volume loops of the Akita^ins2 mouse (blue) compared with WT (black) at 5 and 12 mo of age (n = 4–5 Wild-type ; n = 4–7 Akita) are shown. G: percent survival rates of Akita^ins2 mice; the Akita^ins2 cumulative survival drastically decreases at 52 wk of age. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ns, nonspecific.