Table 4.

Mean lightness values measured for each constituent, with normalized parameters ranging from 0 (black) to 1 (white) in the HSL color space. Thus, mean values for a particular constituent can be interpreted as an overall constituent density (e.g., a mean value closer to 0 indicates a denser organization). Note the trends towards a less dense packing of elastin and a denser packing of collagen in response to Ang-II infusion (Groups 2 and 3). The sample sizes were n = 12, with values presented as means ± standard deviations. The superscript (*) denotes a statistically significant difference, compared to the untreated control group, at a value of p<0.05.

	Elastin	Smooth Muscle	Collagen
Untreated	0.089 ± 0.006	0.298 ± 0.033	0.430 ± 0.044
ANG-II without AAA	0.106 ± 0.004*	0.299 ± 0.033	0.408 ± 0.029
ANG-II with AAA	0.096 ±0.005*	0.275 ± 0.066	0.383 ± 0.038*