Figure 2

Cell injury was quantified by measuring propidium iodide (PI) fluorescence as it entered only cells with damaged cell membranes. The extent of the trauma was evaluated by fluorescence imaging 72 hours after trauma was induced, using pixel-based analysis of the resulting images. The control curve shows the histogram of un-treated slices (n = 30). The second curve shows the histogram of traumatised slices treated with 0.1 μM levosimendan (n = 52). The shaded region around each line indicates the SD. The extent of the injury was quantified by integrating the area at the sections where the pixel value fell above the threshold of 100.