Evaluation of the protein expression levels extracted from the right (non ischemic) gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in ovarectomised (OVX) ERα WT and KO mice treated or not with 20 mg/kg of RWPC for 28 days.

<p>Representative images of blots showing protein expression levels in non ischemic leg muscle (a) Quantification of protein expressions expressed normalized to β-actin expression, (b) (mean ± SEM) (n = 5). <i>*P<0.05,</i> **<i>P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs. control group; ##P<0.01; ###P<0.001 vs control OVX KO; ¤P<0.05, ¤¤P<0.01, ¤¤¤P<0.001 vs OVX WT treated.</i></p

Quantification of the amplitude of NO signals in aorta (a) and in hindlimb muscles (b) from ovariectomized (OVX) ERα WT and KO mice treated or not with 20 mg/kg/day of RWPC for 28 days.

<p>Values are expressed as amplitude/mg of dried weight (dw) of aorta or as ratio of amplitude/mg of dw of muscle (mean ± SEM) (n = 5). <i>*P<0.05,</i> **<i>P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs. control group; ¤¤¤P<0.001 vs OVX WT treated; ###P<0.001 vs control OVX KO.</i></p

Evaluation of capillary density in ovariectomized (OVX) ERα WT and KO mice treated or not with 20 mg/kg/day of RWPC for 28 days.

<p>(a) Typical images of capillary density by CD31 staining in ischemic and normal legs. (b) Quantification of capillary density. Values are expressed in mean ± SEM as the ischemic/non ischemic leg ratio (n = 5). **<i>P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs. control OVX WT; ¤¤¤P<0.001 vs OVX WT treated; ###P<0.001 vs control OVX KO.</i></p

Evaluation of leg neovascularisation after femoral artery ligature in ovariectomized (OVX) ERα WT and KO mice treated or not with 20 mg/kg/day of red wine polyphenol compounds (RWPC).

<p>(a) Quantification of blood perfusion at different times (one day before ligature (day-1), and days 7, 14, 21 and 28 after ligature) in four groups of mice (n = 5/group). Values are expressed in mean ± SEM as the ischemic/non ischemic leg ratio <i>vs</i> day-1. (b) Blood flow perfusion (n = 5/group) with typical images. (c) Quantification of perfusion. Values are expressed in mean ± SEM as the ischemic/non ischemic leg ratio <i>vs</i> day-1. <i>*P<0.05, **P<0.01 vs control OVX WT; ¤¤P<0.01 vs OVX WT treated; ###P<0.001 vs control OVX KO.</i></p

Evaluation of the protein expression levels extracted from the right (normal) and left (ischemic) gastrocnemius and soleus muscle in ovarectomised (OVX) ERα WT and KO mice treated or not with 20 mg/kg of RWPC for 28 days.

<p>Representative images of blots showing protein expression levels in ischemic leg muscle (a) Quantification of protein expressions expressed as a ratio of normal/ischemic protein expression in comparison with WT control group normalized to β-actin expression, (b) (mean ± SEM) (n = 5). <i>*P<0.05,</i> **<i>P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs. control group; ##P<0.01; ###P<0.001 vs control OVX KO; ¤P<0.05, ¤¤P<0.01, ¤¤¤P<0.001 vs OVX WT treated.</i></p

PLC treatment decreases high-fat (HF) diet-induced body weight gain without changing the food intake in mice with established diet-induced obesity (i.e. mice previously fed.

<p>A: Body weight increases during PLC treatment period (from 9^th to 14^th week). B: Daily food intake. Values are means and SEM (n = 10). ^##<i>P</i><0.01, ^###<i>P</i><0.001 <i>vs</i> vehicle-ST, **<i>P</i><0.01 <i>vs</i> vehicle-HF.</p

PLC treatment improves activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes.

<p>CS: citrate synthase. Enzymatic activities are expressed in nmol of product formed per min and per mg of protein. Values are means and SEM (n = 10).</p>#<p><i>P</i><0.05 <i>vs</i> vehicle-ST,</p>*<p><i>P</i><0.05 <i>vs</i> vehicle-HF.</p

PLC improves high-fat (HF) diet-induced endothelial dysfunction.

<p>Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine (ACh, 1 nmol/l to 10 mmol/l) in the presence and in the absence of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N^ω-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME 300 mmol/l). Values are means and SEM (n = 10). ^XXX<i>P</i><0.001 vs ACh in the absence of L-NAME, ^##<i>P</i><0.01 <i>vs</i> vehicle-ST, **<i>P</i><0.01, ***<i>P</i><0.001 <i>vs</i> vehicle-HF.</p

PLC increased the nitric oxide (NO) release in heart, skeletal muscle and aorta.

<p>Measurement of <i>in situ</i> NO production by electron paramagnetic resonance in skeletal muscle (A), aorta (B), heart (C) and liver (D). Values are means and SEM (n = 10). ^##<i>P</i><0.01, ^#<i>P</i><0.05 <i>vs</i> vehicle-ST, ***<i>P</i><0.001, *<i>P</i><0.05 <i>vs</i> vehicle-HF.</p

PLC exerts beneficial effects on different biochemical plasma parameters evaluating the presence of insulin resistance, the lipid profile and the free- and acyl-carnitines plasma levels.

<p>LC: L-carnitine; PLC: propionyl-l-carnitine; LC-AC: long-chain acylcarnitines. Values are means and SEM (n = 10).</p>#<p><i>P</i><0.05,</p>##<p><i>P</i><0.01,</p>###<p><i>P</i><0.001 <i>vs</i> vehicle-ST,</p>*<p><i>P</i><0.05,</p>**<p><i>P</i><0.01 and</p>***<p><i>P</i><0.001 <i>vs</i> vehicle-HF.</p