Fig. 6From: Effects of melatonin on the nitric oxide system and protein nitration in the hypobaric hypoxic rat hippocampusExpression of total Caspase 3 proteins quantified by immunoblots in whole hippocampus homogenates of rats treated with hypoxia alone (black column) and melatonin pretreated (white column) and sacrificed at 0 h, 1 and 3 days of reoxygenation. Note that at 0 h, 1 and 3 days after hypoxic insult, the rats show drastically increased levels of total Caspase 3 protein in the hippocamus. In those rats treated with hypoxia and pretreated melatonin, the increased protein levels are markedly reduced as compared with those of hypoxic along. The protein expression of saline or melatonin treatment under normoxic condition rats are designed as controls (set as 100 %, indicated by dashed line), which are normalize with the levels of β-actin as a loading control. *P < 0.05 (Student’s t test) when compared with values (expressed as mean ± SEM) of rats merely treated with hypoxia at the same survival time pointBack to article page