Fig. 4.
Superoxide and H2O2 analysis in aorta and aortic valve. Superoxide levels measured by lucigenin are significantly increased in aorta from MnSOD+/− mice compared with aorta from MnSOD+/+ mice (A; Tx, in vitro drug treatment conditions). Hydrogen peroxide levels tended to be increased with age in aorta, but these changes were not affected by MnSOD-haploinsufficiency (B). In aortic valve, dihydroethidium (DHE) fluorescence was largely unchanged by aging or MnSOD-haploinsufficiency and age (C and D). Surprisingly, hydrogen peroxide levels were reduced in aortic valve with increasing age and MnSOD-deficiency (E and F). Values are means ± SE; n = 4–14 mice/group. *Significant genotype effect; **significant age effect with P value < 0.01; #individual group differences with P < 0.05. Ctrl, control; CM-H2DCFDA, carboxymethyl-dichlorofluorescein diacetate.