Figure 2. Body weight (A), systolic blood pressure (B), and immunohistochemical evaluation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase expression (brown) and nucleus (blue) in thoracic aortas from 16-week old rats (C). The arrows indicate the endothelial layer. Groups: sedentary, trained (60-min swimming sessions, 5 days/week during 8 weeks, with a 5% body weight load attached to the chest), stressed (immobilization for 2 h); and trained/stressed (submitted to both procedures). Number of animals per group: nitric oxide synthase expression = 4; body weight and blood pressure ⇒ control = 10, trained = 15. Values are means ± SEM.