Biomed Rep 6:[Related article:] 188–194, 2017; DOI:
10.3892/br.2016.834
Following the publication of the above paper, it was
drawn to the Editor’s attention by a concerned reader that the
images in Fig. 2A-D on p. 190, showing staining of the myocardium,
had already appeared in three other publications (in the journals
Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE B in 2011, Chinese
Journal of Integrative Medicine in 2012, and Artificial
Cells, Blood Substitutes, and Biotechnology in 2012) that were
either submitted by the same research group, or featured some of
the same authors. Given that these data had not been credited as
having appeared in print prior to the receipt of this paper at
Biomedical Reports, the authors were asked to provide an
explanation. In their response, they indicated that the images
featured in all papers were intended to show the same data, using
the same experimental set-up (and that, for these papers, different
authors within the research group had selected the same
representative images, which reflected the average typical
findings). In addition, the authors mentioned that the drug used in
this study was prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), although it was mistakenly
referred to as PGE2 in the paper, and that this oversight should
not have affected the published results.
Owing to the fact that the abovementioned data had
already been published prior to its submission to Biomedical
Reports, the Editor has decided that this paper should be
retracted from the Journal. Upon receiving this decision from the
Editor, the authors did not accept the decision that the article be
retracted. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any
inconvenience caused.
