Table 1.
Demographic, structural, and hemodynamic data.
Fig 1.
Representative sections from epicardial biopsies stained with wheat germ agglutin (WGA) were used to assess cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area (CSA) from patients categorized as A) Referent control, B) HTN (-) HFpEF, and C) HTN (+) HFpEF. Collagen volume fraction was assessed by picro-sirius red (PSR) stained tissue sections from D) Referent control, E) HTN (-) HFpEF, and F) HTN (+) HFpEF biopsies. Scale bar in A and D are indicative of magnification in each panel.
Fig 2.
A) Quantification of cardiomyocyte CSA (Blue: Referent control (n = 7), Green: HTN (-) HFpEF (n = 6), Red: HTN (+) HFpEF (n = 12)). B) Quantification of collagen volume fraction (Blue: Referent control (n = 7), Green: HTN (-) HFpEF (n = 6), Red: HTN (+) HFpEF (n = 12)). *p<0.05 versus referent control; #p<0.05 versus HTN (-) HFpEF. Open circles represent outlier values.
Fig 3.
Fibroblast proliferation was assessed as described in materials and methods.
No differences in proliferation were detected between the three groups. Proliferation assays were performed at P1 or P2 for each isolation. Blue: Referent control (n = 19), Green: HTN (-) HFpEF (n = 12), Red: HTN (+) HFpEF (n = 17). Open circles represent outlier values.
Fig 4.
Collagen production by primary fibroblasts was quantified by immunoblot analysis and determined relative to expression of tubulin.
A representative blot of collagen I bands in conditioned media is shown. Quantification of total collagen I (summary values for all collagen I bands versus tubulin) and the percent procollagen I (procollagen I band intensity/total collagen I bands) is shown. Protein production was evaluated in cells from P2 or P3. Blue: Referent control (n = 5), Green: HTN (-) HFpEF (n = 4), Red: HTN (+) HFpEF (n = 6). *p<0.05, open circles represent outlier values.
Fig 5.
MT1-MMP production by primary fibroblasts was quantified by immunoblot analysis and determined relative to expression of tubulin.
A representative blot of MTI-MMP in cell layers is shown. Protein production was evaluated in cells from P2 or P3. Blue: Referent control (n = 8), Green: HTN (-) HFpEF (n = 7), Red: HTN (+) HFpEF (n = 12). *p<0.05, open circles represent outlier values.
Fig 6.
αSMA production by primary fibroblasts was quantified by immunoblot analysis and determined relative to expression of tubulin at day 2, day 3, and day 4.
Protein production was evaluated in cells from P2 or P3. Blue: Referent control (n = 10), Green: HTN (-) HFpEF (n = 7), Red: HTN (+) HFpEF (n = 10). *p<0.05, open circles represent outlier values.