FIG. 2.

Observation of the number of retinal capillary cells and activity of p38 MAPK in the control, DM, and DM + S groups. A and B: Low- and high-magnification photomicrographs (×50 and ×400, respectively) of trypsin-digested retinal blood vessels obtained from the three groups. All preparations were stained with PAS and hematoxylin; arrowheads indicate acellular capillary. C–E: Determination of pericyte/mm² of capillary area (C), endothelial cell (EC)/mm² of capillary area (D), and acellular capillary segment/mm² in the retinal vessels (E) in the three groups. F: Western blot analysis of activity of p38 MAPK (phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, p-p38 MAPK) in the three groups. Bars indicate SD. A representative experiment of the three is shown (**P < 0.01 vs. control; ##P < 0.01 vs. DM; n = 8). (A high-quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue.)