Fig. 2.

SS (Dahl salt-sensitive/Mcwi) rats exhibit a radiation-induced cardiotoxicity permissive phenotype, compared with the BN (Brown Norway) rats. Female adult rats were treated with 24 Gy of image-guided cardiac radiation therapy (RT). A: pericardial effusions were similar at 3 mo, with 6/9 female SS rats vs. 5/7 BN rats having moderate (mod) to large amounts of fluid, but at 5 mo all SS rats had moderate to large pericardial effusions (6/6 SS vs. 3/7 BN rats), as measured via echocardiogram. B: heart-to-body ratio was measured at 5 mo in unirradiated or postradiation rats, as a marker of cardiac hypertrophy. At 5 mo, cardiac hypertrophy was evident in the SS female rats, but not in the BN female rats. Values are means ± SE; n = 4 rats in control groups and n = 7–11 rats used for radiation groups. *P < 0.05.