Fig. 1

Experimental design and the numbers of subjects in each group. Rats received intravenous doxorubicin (1 mg/kg, twice a week). A total of 40 rats were consecutively enrolled into five groups (eight rats in each group; group 1: 2-week, 2: 4-week, 3: 6-week, 4: 8-week, 5: 12-week). Among them, two rats in group 1 and one each in groups 4 and 5 died during the specific treating period. Five control rats (group 0) that received normal saline intravenously (1 mg/kg, twice a week) were also included for comparison. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) scans (blue circles) were performed in the short-axis planes in each group. All rats were sacrificed for histopathologic evaluation immediately after the CMR scan. The association between the CMR parameters and the histopathological changes was assessed