Sural nerve involvement in experimental hypertension: morphology and morphometry in male and female normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR)

Table 2 Morphometric parameters of proximal and distal segments of the sural nerve fascicles of male and female WKY and SH

	Female WKY	Male WKY	Female SHR	Male SHR	Female WKY	Male WKY	Female SHR	Male SHR
	Proximal Segments					Distal Segments
FA (μm²)	49096 ± 3140	52479 ± 3052	51596 ± 2484	54504 ± 3062	38162 ± 2635*	41188 ± 3998	44956 ± 4812*	50144 ± 4272
Fascicle Ø (μm)	193 ± 16	181 ± 22	205 ± 14	184 ± 15	89 ± 4*	113 ± 20	146 ± 9*^#	155 ± 15^#
MF number	871 ± 25	831 ± 47	889 ± 36	884 ± 33	746 ± 47*	725 ± 53	690 ± 47*	688 ± 45
MFD (fibers/μm²)	18469 ± 1072	15986 ± 724	17454 ± 715	16541 ± 647	19849 ± 821	18119 ± 1059	16370 ± 972^#	14770 ± 1586^#
SCN number	40 ± 3	42 ± 5	35 ± 4	35 ± 2	33 ± 2	35 ± 3	35 ± 5	27 ± 2
SCND (nuclei/μm²)	843 ± 58	810 ± 100	731 ± 84	666 ± 48	906 ± 83	889 ± 60	800 ± 68^#	576 ± 78^#
MF occupancy (%)	38.79 ± 1.46	36.90 ± 1.65	40.10 ± 1.82	41.30 ± 2.96	40.15 ± 1.56	39.80 ± 1.99	35.75 ± 1.62	35.09 ± 3.01
CP occupancy (%)	0.96 ± 0.26	0.90 ± 0.22	0.40 ± 0.13	0.55 ± 0.09	0.71 ± 0.19	0.69 ± 0.13	0.18 ± 0.06#	0.28 ± 0.12#

Data expressed as mean ± standard error of mean (SEM). FA = fascicle area, Ø = diameter, MF = myelinated fiber, MFD = myelinated fiber density, SCN = Schwann cell nuclei, SCND = Schwann cell nuclei density, CP = capillary. * indicates differences between proximal and distal segments (paired Student's t-test p < 0.05); # indicates differences between WKY and SHR (unpaired Student's t-test, p < 0.05)

ISSN: 1471-2202