Fig. 3
PM2.5 reversibly induces cardiac fibrosis of mice. Assessment of cardiac fibrosis by Masson’s Trichrome staining. (a) Representative images (4X objective) of hearts from mice exposed to PM2.5 (3 mg/kg b.w.) for 4 weeks, scale bar = 200 μm. The percentage of fibrotic regions of different ages mice (b), 10-month-old mice withdrawal of PM2.5 exposure (c), and 4-week-old mice withdrawal of PM2.5 exposure (d) was quantified. Fibrotic regions of cardiac tissues were determined by blue staining in each group. The data are expressed as the mean ± SE (n = 6~ 7). *, P < 0.05 vs. age-matched control by two-way ANOVA and Turkey’s post hoc tests; #, P < 0.05 vs. 4-month-old PM2.5 group; d, P < 0.05 vs. 4-week-exposure; e, P < 0.05 vs. 1-week-restored group by two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni’s post hoc tests