Figure 1

Pulmonary exposure to DEP increases basal blood pressure, oxygen demand, ischemic arrhythmia and reperfusion injury in vivo . Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP, a), rate pressure product (RPP, b) and the duration of ischemic arrhythmia (c, with inset showing typical arrhythmia) were measured in anesthetised rats 6 h after pulmonary instillation of diesel exhaust particulate (DEP, 0.5 mg, filled black columns) or 0.9% saline (saline, 0.5 ml, open columns) and in control rats that received no instillation (non-instilled, filled grey column). Hearts from DEP instilled rats had increased infarct size (d), expressed as a percentage of left ventricular (LV) mass) and were heavier at the end of reperfusion (d, inset). Results are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 6 per group) ***P < 0.001 saline versus DEP; one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test.