Fig. 3From: Pathological alterations in the gastrointestinal tract of a porcine model of DMDDevelopment of muscular dystrophy and cardiomyopathy in DMD-delE51 pigs. A Piglets carrying DMD exon 51 mutations showed abnormal posture. B Survival curves of DMD-delE51 pigs and WT-pigs. C–E H&E staining of heart, diaphragm and gastrocnemius muscle sections from WT and DMD-delE51 pigs at the age of 12 weeks. Scale bars: 100 µm. Fiber fracture (green arrows) and hypertrophic fiber (black arrows) were seen in heart sections. Excessive fiber size variation (red arrows), central nucleated fibers (yellow arrows), fiber fracture (green arrows) and inflammatory cell infiltration (blue arrows) were readily visible in muscle sections. F Serum biochemical profiles of WT and DMD-delE51 pigs. ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01 and *P < 0.05. G, I Quantification of cross-sectional area (CSA) of diaphragm and gastrocnemius muscle fibers in WT and DMD-delE51 pigs. H, J Quantification of centrally nucleated fiber (CNF) percentage in WT and DMD-delE51 pigs. K, L Size distribution of diaphragm and gastrocnemius muscle in WT and DMD-delE51 pigs. Scale bars: 100 µm. ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01 and *P < 0.05; n = 5Back to article page