(A) TUNEL assay on day 7 following MI revealed an increase in cardiomyocyte apoptosis in WT vs. FXR−/− mice. Magnification, ×200. (B) The ratio of apoptotic/non-apoptotic myocyte was significantly higher in WT mice compared with FXR−/− mice on day 7 following MI (n=3 mice/group, 5 fields/heart). (C) Representative western blot demonstrating cleaved caspase-3 protein expression levels in infarct regions of sham- and MI-operated WT and FXR−/− mice on day 7 following MI. (D) Relative protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-3 were semi-quantified and normalized to GAPDH. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean (n=4 mice/group). *P<0.05 vs. the WT + MI group. FXR, farnesoid X receptor; MI, myocardial infarction; TUNEL, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labelling; WT, wild type.