Figure 6.

Treatment with empagliflozin (EMPA) normalizes renal apoptosis and cleaved caspase-3 abundance in HF rats. (A and B) Representative photomicrographs of kidney sections (×400 magnification) from HF and sham rats treated with EMPA or untreated. Scale bar: 50 µm. (A) Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated digoxigenin-deoxyuridine nick-end labeling assay was used to detect apoptotic cells that undergo extensive DNA degradation. (B) Immunohistochemical staining of cleaved caspase-3. (C) Quantification of apoptotic nuclei and (D) cleaved caspase-3–positive areas were determined in five random fields per slide using the ImageJ software. These analyses were performed by two investigators blinded to the experimental groups. The values represent individual measurements and the means ± SEM. *P=0.04 versus sham; **P=0.005 versus sham; ***P<0.001 versus sham; ^† P=0.02 versus sham + EMPA; ^††† P<0.001 versus sham + EMPA; ^# P=0.02 versus HF; ^### P<0.001 versus HF.