Fig. 5.

Carv treatment decreases myocardial apoptosis after MI. Evaluation of cellular apoptosis in heart tissue was performed by TUNEL assay. A, TUNEL (positive) cells (green) and total nuclei (DAPI/blue) were imaged in the peri-infarct regions of the heart tissues at 4 weeks after MI. B, Increased TUNEL-positive nuclei (green) were seen in the MI group, whereas Carv-treated hearts showed a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in TUNEL-positive nuclei compared with the MSC group. C, Western blot analysis of caspase-3 expression in heart tissues showed significant (p < 0.05) reduction in caspase-3 expression in the combined MSC+Carv-treated groups compared with the single treated groups (MI, Carv, and MSC groups). Values are expressed as mean ± S.D.; n = 4.