Fig. 4

MSC infusion ameliorated abnormal metabolism, cardiac structure, inflammation and fibrosis in DCM rats. MSCs were infused 4 times, then rats were sacrificed, and their hearts were removed and weighed immediately (a), the ratio of heart weight to body weight (HW/BW) was calculated (b). Heart samples were fixed with paraformaldehyde, and cross sections of the ventricular wall and chamber were stained with H&E at the papillary muscle level (c). H&E staining (d, scale bar = 20 μm) was performed to reflect cardiomyocyte morphology and cardiac inflammation, and cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area (CSA) was also measured, analyzed and presented (e). Masson’s trichrome staining was performed to observe cardiac fibrosis (f, scale bar = 50 μm) and the quantification of myocardial fibrosis was also analyzed (g). n = 5–8 per group, **P < 0.01 vs. normal group, #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01 vs. DCM group