Figure 5.

Echocardiographic analyses of heart function in 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposed and control mice with a cardiomyocyte-specific Ahr deletion. Five to eight 3-month-old mice of each sex and genotype were exposed for 2 months to 1 µg/kg/week of TCDD or corn oil vehicle by gavage. At 5 months of age, exposure was terminated and the mice maintained until they reach 12 months, at which time they were used for echocardiographic determination of the same parameters analyzed in Figure 4. C, corn oil control and T, TCDD. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. Asterisks indicate significance (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001).