Figure 2. Myocardial apoptosis, MPO activity, reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSH) in rats subjected to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with different treatments (n = 8/group).

A, top: representative photomicrographs of in situ detection of apoptotic myocytes by terminal deoxynucleotidyl nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining in ischemic heart tissue from rats subjected to 60 min CPB. Green fluorescence shows TUNEL-positive nuclei; blue fluorescence shows nuclei of total cardiomyocytes. Bottom: percentage of TUNEL-positive nuclei in heart tissue sections. (x20 objective) B: myocardial caspase-3 activity. C: MPO activity. D: reduced glutathione (GSH). E: oxidized glutathione (GSSH). Values presented are mean±SEM. G, ghrelin; GI, [D-Lys3]-GHRP-6, ghrelin inhibitor; W, wortmannin, a PI3K inhibitor. **P<0.01 vs. Sham, ^## P<0.01 vs. CPB, ^δ P<0.05 vs. CPB+G.