Table 1.

Mean values (± s.e.m.) of the parameters quantifying textural properties of the connective tissue in CB samples from normal young subjects, from aged subjects, and from young subjects who died of chronic opiate abuse.

Feature	Young controls	Aging	Drug-related deaths
Morisita's index	0.028 ± 0.002	0.060 ± 0.010 (◦)	0.083 ± 0.005 (◦◦,*)
Angular second moment	0.0048 ± 0.0006	0.0020 ± 0.0007 (◦◦)	0.0010 ± 0.0001 (◦◦,*)
Variance	151.0 ± 12.9	97.2 ± 4.8 (◦◦)	115.4 ± 5.2 (◦◦)
Correlation	0.0010 ± 0.00017	0.0004 ± 0.00005 (◦◦)	0.0004 ± 0.00003 (◦◦)
Entropy	7.91 ± 0.150	8.36 ± 0.099 (◦)	8.44 ± 0.079 (◦◦)
Fractal dimension	1.43 ± 0.028	1.447 ± 0.013	1.563 ± 0.006 (◦◦,**)
Lacunarity	0.828 ± 0.017	0.500 ± 0.021 (◦◦)	0.388 ± 0.009 (◦◦,**)

^◦p < 0.05,

^◦◦p < 0.01 vs. the “Young controls” group;

^*p < 0.05,

^**p < 0.01 vs. the “Aging” group.