Combination of ALX and FSK attenuated CCS-induced PCH
Morphometric assessment of whole hearts showed that PCH mice had an increase in their heart size as by their heart weight (HW) and body weight (BW) ratio. Comparing the therapeutic groups with the Vhl and PCH groups, ALX alone and its combination with FSK did better at keeping the HW/BW ratio healthy than FSK single therapy (Fig. 8a and Supplementary Table S2). Detailed morphological analysis of longitudinal and transverse tissue sectionings using H&E and trichrome staining revealed hearts PCH mice had dilated left and right heart chambers, marked collagen deposits, and abnormal hypertrophied cardiomyocytes (Fig. 8a-8c). Again, although ALX effectively attenuated cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, it failed to prevent interstitial collagen deposits. Also, FSK alone was not very efficient in attenuating neither myocyte hypertrophy, nor collagen deposit as its combination with ALX did (Fig. 8d and 8e).