Fig. 3

Alterations in myocardial tissue structure in diabetic rats after I-Post or nicorandil. A Representative cross-sectional HE-stained pathological section of the heart, and comparison of pathological damage scores (n = 6). Red arrows indicate cellular oedema as well as myocardial fibre swelling; black arrows represent myofiber lysis; blue arrows represent inflammatory cell infiltration. B Representative TUNEL-stained sections of the heart, and apoptotic index of cardiomyocytes in each group (n = 5). Brown nuclei indicate TUNEL-positive nuclei (marked by red arrow). C Representative cross-sectional WGA staining of the heart, and quantitative data on the cross-sectional area of cardiomyocytes (n = 6). Compared with I/R: ^†††P < 0.001; Compared with DM I/R: ^‡‡‡P < 0.001; Comparison between nondiabetic and diabetic groups applying the same treatment: ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05,. Data represent the mean ± SEM. Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni multiple comparisons test. Sham, sham surgery; I/R, ischaemia‒reperfusion; I-Post, ischaemia postconditioning; Nic, nicorandil; DM, diabetes mellitus