Fig. 5

Danshen injection alleviated apoptosis. a Representative images of apoptotic cells in the corpus cavernous tissue by a TUNEL assay are shown. (i) Control group; (ii) Diabetes group; (iii) Danshen injection group (0.5 mL/kg); (iv) Danshen injection group (1 mL/kg). Hyperglycemia triggered an increase in the number of apoptotic cells (arrow), whereas Danshen injection potentially reduced the number of apoptotic cells. b Apoptotic nuclei were quantified. Data are presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean (S.E.M.). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01. Scale bar: 20 μm. c The expression of cleaved caspase-3 was detected by western blot analysis. Cleaved caspase-3 was upregulated in the diabetes group, which was prevented by the Danshen injection. d Data are presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean (S.E.M.) for five rats per group. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01