Figure 1.

Flowchart of timeline and number of rats used in each group in applied study design. 5/6 subtotal nephrectomy (SNX) was performed in rats to induce initial kidney injury by first resecting the whole right kidney and subsequently resecting two-thirds of the left kidney one week later (0 w, which is right after the whole surgery). A group of sham-operated rats was used as control (Sham). After the surgery, all rats were allowed four weeks to recover and form a stable condition of chronic kidney disease. Then, the SNX rats were randomly divided into two groups and intragastrically administered vehicle (SNX+Veh), or Telmisartan (SNX + Tel) for an additional 12 weeks. Blood and urine collections were performed at Baseline (before the initial surgery, which is one week before 0 w) and on week 4, 8, 12, and 16 after the whole surgery to evaluate renal function. Echocardiography and blood pressure were measured at Baseline before the initial surgery and at week 16 after the whole SNX surgery. Cardiac MRI was conducted at week 16. Then, the rats were euthanized, and renal/cardiac pathological examination, real-time PCR, and western blot analysis were performed at week 16.