FIGURE 2.

Inhibition of PKM2 alleviates Ang‐II‐induced early cardiac remodelling. DMSO or shikonin was given to C57BL/6J mice while the treatment was combined with Ang II (1,500 ng/kg/min) infusion for 7 days. (A) Diagrammatic illustration of experimental schemes and timelines. (B) Systolic blood pressures. (C) Representative M‐mode echocardiography of the left ventricle (left). Measurement of ejection fraction (EF %) and fractional shortening (FS %) (right, n = 6 per group). (D) Representative hearts (left). HW/BW and HW/TL ratios (right, n = 6 per group). (E) TRITC‐labelled wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) staining of heart sections. Scale bar, 50 μm (left). Quantification of the relative myocyte cross‐sectional area (right, n = 6 per group). (G) Masson's staining of cardiac sections. Scale bar, 50 μm (left). Quantification of the relative fibrosis (right, n = 6 per group). (F, H) qRT‐PCR analysis of mRNA expression (n = 6 per group). ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01