Table 1.
Mean percent area of tissue types in rat mammary glands 49 days after full-term pregnancy or completion of 21 days of exogenous hormone treatment compared with control group
| Pregnancy | Hormone | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tissue type | % Area of Total | ||
| Parenchyma | 4.27 ± 0.03a* | 3.79 ± 0.027b | 3.12 ± 0.034c |
| Stroma (ECM/connective tissue) | 21.35 ± 0.088a | 16.91 ± 0.43b | 11.22 ± 0.027c |
| Adipose | 74.38 ± 0.12a | 79.3 ± 0.45b | 85.66 ± 0.032c |
| Ratio of parenchyma to stroma | 0.2 ± 0.0014 | 0.224 ± 0.0055 | 0.278 ± 0.0034 |
| (1: 5)a | (1:4.5)b | (1:3.6)c | |
*Data are from photo-micrographic image analysis of total 25 randomized images per group (5 images per rat). Values with different superscripts in the same row are significantly different (P < 0.05). ECM, extracellular matrix.