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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Circ Heart Fail. 2015 May 18;8(4):788–798. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.114.001963

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Smad3 heterozygosity in db/db mice is associated with increased chamber dilation and a modest reduction in ejection fraction. Systolic function, dilative and hypertrophic remodeling were compared between lean WT mice and corresponding Shet and SKO animals (A-E), and between db/db, dbShet and dbSKO mice (F-J) using echocardiography. Panels K-O show comparison of echocardiographic endpoints between WT, db and dbShet animals at 6 and 12 months of age (at these timepoints comparison with SKO and dbSKO mice is not possible due to their early mortality) A-E: Shet and SKO mice had modest chamber dilation with preserved systolic function. A: At 4 months of age, Shet mice had higher LVEDD than WT animals (**p<0.01). B: LVEDV was significantly higher in Shet animals at 4 months of age. C: When adjusted to body weight, SKO animals also exhibited an increase in LVEDD:BW ratio. D. Ejection fraction was comparable between groups at 2 and 4 months of age. E: No statistically significant differences in LV mass were noted. F: dbShet mice had a significantly higher LVEDD than db/db animals. G: dbSKO mice had significantly increased LVEDD:body weight ratio. H. LVEDV was significantly higher in dbShet mice at 4 months of age. I. When compared with age-matched WT animals, db/db mice had increased ejection fraction (^^p<0.01 vs WT). When compared with db/db animals, dbShet mice and dbSKO animals had a modest, but significant reduction in ejection fraction (**p<0.01 vs db/db). J-K: db/db mice had increased LV mass and higher cardiomyocyte size than age-matched lean controls (^p<0.05, ^^p<0.01 vs. WT). dbSKO mice had attenuated LV hypertrophy, suggested by reduced LV mass (J) and decreased cardiomyocyte size (K) (*p<0.05, **p<0.01 vs. db/db). L-N: At 6-12 months of age, dbShet mice had persistent chamber dilation (*p<0.05, **p<0.01 vs. age-matched db/db) without significant progression of dilative remodeling O. Ejection fraction was significantly lower in dbShet mice at 6 and 8 months of age (**p<0.01 vs. db/db); however progressive systolic dysfunction was not observed. P: In comparison to WT animals, db/db mice had significantly higher LV mass at 6-8 months of age (^^p<0.01 vs. WT). dbShet mice and db/db mice had comparable LV mass at 6 and 12 months of age (2 mo of age: WT n=14, Shet=26, SKO n=10, db/db n=16, dbShet n=15, dbSKO n=19; 4mo of age: WT n=45, Shet n=27, SKO n=6, db/db n=42, dbShet n=16, dbSKO n=10, Shet n=16) (^p<0.05, ^^p<0.01 vs. age-matched WT)..