Figure 1.

Effect of benzene exposure on left ventricle function and cardiac remodeling after pressure overload. A, Benzene exposure protocol: Transverse aortic constriction or Sham-operated male C57BL/6 mice were exposed to benzene (50 ppm, 6 h/day, 5 days/week) or HEPA-filtered air (Air) for 6 weeks. At the end of the exposure protocol, echocardiography was used to measure ejection fraction (B), fractional shortening (C), end-diastolic volume (EDV; D), end-systolic volume (ESV; E), left ventricular internal diameter end diastole (LVIDd; F) and end systole (LVIDs; G). Heart weight: tibial length (TL) are presented in (H). Statistical analyses for echo-based parameters were performed after adjustment for body weight and heart rate by 2-way ANOVA with Tukey-Kramer corrections. I, The representative images of Sirius Red-stained mid-ventricular histological sections from mouse hearts with quantitative analysis of fibrosis expressed as percent of fibrous area to total area ratio. Representative images of wheat germ agglutinin-stained mid-ventricular histological sections from mouse hearts with quantitative analysis of myocyte area are illustrated in panel J. Values are mean ± SEM. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, and ****p < .0001 represent statistical significance between corresponding groups analyzed by 2-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test (n = 6–11/group).