Figure 1.

H&E staining. A microphotograph of a rat tendon presenting nuclei of tendon cells (arrows) between parallel plates of collagen fibers. Note: no tissue lesions or inflammatory cells are visible in any of the sampled tendons, regardless of the duration or the experimental group (a). Blood vessels with erythrocytes in the lumen (indicated by arrows) are present in the resected rat tendons (b). IHC staining. In the peritendinous tissues VEGF-A expression was observed in fibroblastic-like cells (indicated by arrow) (c). CD34 expression was noted in blood vessel endothelium (indicated by arrow) (d).