PMC

Molecular structure of notoginsenoside-R1.

Hematoxylin and eosin staining of the lung tissue in all groups. The left and right lung tissues in the (A and B) control group, (C and D) RIP group and (E and F) NG-R1 group. Magnification, ×100. RIP, remote ischemic postconditioning; NG-R1, notoginsenoside R1.

Effects of IR and NG-R1 on TGF-β1 and TAK1 expression as detected by immunohistochemistry. (A-C) TGF-β1 staining; cells stained brown indicate TGF-β1-positive cells and (D-F) TAK1 staining; cells stained brown indicate TAK1-positive cells (magnification, ×100). Expression levels of (G) TGF-β1 and (H) TAK1 were calculated (n=7 per group). *P<0.05 vs. the control group; ^θP<0.05 vs. the RIP group. IR, ischemia-reperfusion; NG-R1, notoginsenoside R1; TGF, transforming growth factor; TAK1, TGF-β activated kinase 1; RIP, remote ischemic postconditioning.

Effects of RIP and NG-R1 on TGF-β1, TAK1, p38 MAPK, p-p38 MAPK and MEK3/6 in the heart tissue (n=8 per group). Expression levels of (A) TGF-β1, (B) TAK1, (C) p38 MAPK, (D) p-p38 MAPK and (E) MEK3/6 protein levels as determined by blot analysis using tubulin as a reference. *P<0.01 vs. the control group; ^θP<0.01 vs. the RIP group. RIP, remote ischemic postconditioning; NG-R1, notoginsenoside R1; TGF, transforming growth factor; TAK1, TGF-β activated kinase 1; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; p, phosphorylated; MEK, MAPK kinase.

Effects of IR and NG-R1 on apoptotic damage and apoptosis-related enzyme expression in heart tissue. (A-C) TUNEL assay of the heart tissue. Yellow circles indicate the nuclei of apoptotic cells (magnification, ×100). (D) The TUNEL apoptotic index was determined by calculating the ratio of TUNEL-positive cells to total cells (n=7 per group). (E-G) The activities of caspase-9, −8 and −3 were measured using a fluorometric assay and expressed as the fold change over the control. *P<0.05 vs. the control group; ^θP<0.05 vs. the RIP group. IR, ischemia-reperfusion; NG-R1, notoginsenoside R1; TUNEL, terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling; RIP, remote ischemic postconditioning.