Figure 1.

Pericyte count in diabetic and control rats. The number of pericytes per capillary area was found to be significantly lower in the retinas of diabetic rats compared to controls but there were no differences between the two diabetic rat groups. The number of acellular capillaries per capillary area was found to be higher in the retinas of both diabetic rat groups compared to controls, but there were no differences between the two diabetic rat groups. The total number of pericytes and acellular capillaries was manually counted in 10 randomly selected fields of each retina. The number of pericytes and acellular capillaries was normalized to the relative capillary density (number per millimeter squared of capillary area – 3 pixels² of capillary area = 1 mm²). Samples were evaluated in a masked fashion (***p <0.0001, *p <0.05).