Figure 1

α7nAChR activation with GTS21 treatment improved contractile function of I/R perfused rat hearts. (A) Experimental protocol of the rat heart perfusion studies. Equil, equilibration period. (B–F) LV pressures were recorded during the 40 min reperfusion period and five outcome variables (LVDP, + dP/dt, -dP/dt, heart rate (HR), work product (WP)) were measured at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 min and are expressed as percent of the value measured at the end of the equilibration period (% pre-ischemia). Data points represent treatment group mean ± SE. Perfusion control (•, n = 5); I/R + vehicle (■, n = 4); I/R + GTS21 (▲, n = 6); I/R GTS21 + MLA (◯, n = 3). I/R + MLA (x, n = 3). RMANOVA performed on the five outcome variables measured at six time points (0–30 min) showed significant group × time interactions in (B), (C) and (F), and pairwise comparisons between the four treatment groups showed significance at individual time points as indicated: *p < 0.01 versus I/R, **p < 0.001 versus I/R, ***p ≤ 0.0001 versus I/R, ^τp < 0.01 versus GTS + MLA, ^γp < 0.01 versus MLA.