Fibroblast growth factor-21 prevents diabetic cardiomyopathy via AMPK-mediated antioxidation and lipid-lowering effects in the heart

HFD/ STZ-induced type 2 diabetic and age-matched mice received FGF21 treatment for 4 months. Then, mice were killed and the hearts were isolated. Cardiac hypertrophy was evaluated by examining the ratio of heart weight to tibia length (HW/BW, a) and the expression of hypertrophic markers including cardiac ANP (b), BNP (c), and β-MHC (d). Myocardium structure was examined by H&E staining (e). Fibrosis was evaluated by measuring collagen content by Sirius-red staining (f, g). Data are presented as means？±？SD, n？=？8/group. *P？<？0.05 vs. the control (Con) group; #P？<？0.05 vs. the diabetic (DM) grou