mRNA expression of excitatory mediators, including ER stress markers BIP (A), ATF4 (B) and ATF6 (C), inflammatory mediators tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (D), interleukin (IL)-1β (E) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 (F), and RAS components angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE, G) and angiotensin II type 1a receptor (AT1aR, H), in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of heart failure (HF) rats 4 weeks after coronary artery ligation and 5 weeks after PVN microinjection of a lentiviral vector encoding a scrambled (Scr) siRNA or EGFR siRNA. Values are mean ± SEM (n = 7-8 for each group) and are expressed as a fold change compared to HF+Scr siRNA. *p<0.05, vs HF+Scr siRNA.