Sleeve gastrectomy ameliorates endothelial function and prevents lung cancer by normalizing endothelin-1 axis in obese and diabetic rats

Figure 1 Flow chart of the study protocol. ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; FBG: Fasting blood glucose; OGTT: Oral glucose tolerance test; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; SG: Sleeve gastrectomy; STZ: Streptozotocin; WB: Western blot; γ-H2AX foci: H2A histone family member X focus assay.

Figure 2 Comparisons of metabolic parameters among groups. A: Body weight; B: Food intake; C: Fasting glucose level; D: Area under the curve of oral glucose tolerance test; E: Fasting serum insulin level; F: Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance compared to sham-operated and control rats. ^aP < 0.05: Control vs sham; ^cP < 0.05: Control vs sleeve gastrectomy; ^eP < 0.05: Sham vs sleeve gastrectomy. AUC_OGTT: Area under the curve of oral glucose tolerance test; Homa-IR: Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; SG: Sleeve gastrectomy.

Figure 3 Expression of genes of the endothelin-1 axis. ^aP < 0.05: Control vs sham; ^cP < 0.05: Sham vs sleeve gastrectomy. SG: Sleeve gastrectomy.

Figure 4 Protein expression of the endothelin-1 axis. A: Immunoblotting of the proteins; B-E: Relative band intensity. ^aP < 0.05: Control vs sham; ^cP < 0.05: Control vs sleeve gastrectomy; ^eP < 0.05: Sham vs SG. ET: Endothelin; ECE: ET-converting enzyme; SG: Sleeve gastrectomy.

Figure 5 Immunohistochemical assessment of DNA damage using the γ-H2AX foci assay. A: Representative images of γ-H2AX-positive cells (red arrows) at different time points (bar = 20 μm); B: Semi-quantification of the level of DNA damage. ^aP < 0.05: Control vs sham; ^cP < 0.05: Sham vs sleeve gastrectomy. SG: sleeve gastrectomy.