Microvascular density assessed by CD31 staining.

<p>(A) Microvascular density was assessed in the myocardial scar, both adjacent borderzones, and non-infarcted regions (posterior left-ventricular wall). No differences between untreated and UMS-treated animals were found with respect to the scar tissue and the non-infarcted regions. However, the myocardial borderzone tissue of UMS-treated mice revealed a significantly increased microvascular density as compared to non-treated animals. (B) Representative CD31 stained histological images of scar, untreated borderzone (−UMS), and UMS-treated borderzone (+UMS) (from left to right). CD31 positive vessels can be identified by their dark colour. Note the higher microvascular density of the UMS-treated mice compared to the non-treated group. In contrast, scar displayed the lowest microvascular density.