Figure 4

Quantification of the transgene expression and inflammatory response after intracardiac injection. ImageJ software was used to A) of X-gal positive infected cells at day 6 post injection B) the size of inflammatory response represented here as area A) expression after Ad5-lacZ and Ad5/35-lacZ injection. Ad5-lacZ was able transduce significantly more cells than Ad5/35-lacZ (p = 0.016). B) Inflammatory response after Ad5-lacZ and Ad5/35-lacZ injection. Both vectors resulted in mild inflammatory reaction at day 6 post injection. At day 14 Ad5-lacZ was found to be significantly more toxic than Ad5/35-lacZ (p = 0.04). C) Grading of the inflammatory response. A pathologist analyzed inflammatory reaction using a grading system for myocyte damage, interstitial inflammation and endocardial involvement. At 14 days the grading score was significantly higher for Ad5 (p=0.009). P-values ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.