FIG. 6.

Evaluation of the effect of CSCs transplantation on infarct size. (A) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson's trichrome (MT) staining of infracted rat hearts 8 weeks after transplantation showed attenuation of infarction size in the left ventricle (LV) of all three transplanted groups compared to the control groups. (B) Quantification of infarction size using H&E and MT stained sections showed a significant decrease in infarction length 8 weeks after transplantation in the treated groups compared to the vehicle group (P≤0.01 transplanted groups vs. vehicle group). Attenuation in c-KIT⁺ cells and CDC groups were significantly higher than the clonogenic expansion-derived cell (CEDC) group (P≤0.05). (C) Quantification of the blood vessel density and normalization of the transplanted group compared to the vehicle group (average of αSMA-positive blood vessels counted in five fields of six sections with infarction for each transplanted animal compared to the vehicle group; P≤0.05). As the chart shows the blood vessel density of c-KIT⁺ and CDCs transplanted groups were significantly higher than the CEDCs transplanted group (P≤0.05). The data were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis test a nonparametric statistical method. *: P<0.05, **: P<0.01. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/scd