Macroscopic and microscopic alterations of murine thalassemic hearts.

<p>Representative cardiac macroscopic phenotype of 15-months control (A) and homo-βthal (B) show important heart hypertrophy in homo-βthal mice; hematoxylin-eosin stain. Heart tissue sections of control (C) in comparison to homo-βthal (D) stained with Sirius red revealed markedly enhanced collagen levels (arrow) in homo-βthal hearts. Histological cardiac analysis of control (E) and homo-βthal (F) sections were comparable with occasional detectable iron signals (arrowhead); Prussian blue stain and nuclear fast red counterstain. (Magnification×40; Bars, 100 µm).