Fig. 4

Effects of obesity on hemodynamics, right ventricular hypertrophy and pulmonary vascular remodeling in monocrotaline (MCT)-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) in female Zucker rats. Hemodynamics and right ventricular hypertrophy measurements were performed after 5 weeks of either normal saline (NS) (lean NS (n = 10); obese NS (n = 10)) or monocrotaline (lean MCT (n = 10); obese MCT (n = 10)) treatment in lean and obese female Zucker rats. a, b Hemodynamic measurements and (c) Fulton’s index (weight ratio of right ventricle (RV) to left ventricle and septum (LV + S)) are shown. d-e Medial wall thickness and degree of muscularization are given. f Representative photomicrographs of medial wall thickness for different groups are depicted. Pulmonary vessels are indicated by arrows. SAP = systemic arterial pressure, RVSP = right ventricular systolic pressure. Data are presented as mean ± SEM (n = 10). p < 0.05 values are considered statistically significant. *compared to lean, ^$compared to normal saline