Table 7.
Stereological and morphometric analyses of the lung tissue.
| CG | VG | QG | CSG | QCSG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vv [a] (%) | 60.00 (57.50–60.94) |
55.31 (53.75–59.38) |
57.50 (56.25–60.94) |
66.25 (64.69–70.31) a,b,c |
55.00 (53.13–58.44) d |
| Vv [sa] (%) | 41.56 (39.38–44.06) |
45.31 (44.38–47.19) |
42.81 (41.56–44.69) |
33.75 (29.69–35.31) a,b,c |
46.56 (41.88–48.44) d |
| Vv [col] (%) | 25.16 (23.20–30.47) |
25.47 (24.53–29.69) |
29.38 (21.25–34.53) |
7.97 (6.50–9.30) a,b,c |
23.60 (19.69–24.69) |
| Vv [ela] (%) | 18.13 (16.02–20.16) |
17.50 (16.17–18.60) |
16.10 (14.69–20.39) |
12.19 (11.72–12.74) a,b,c |
15.94 (13.83–16.33) |
| Lm (µm) | 127.6 ± 9.98 | 140.7 ± 9.72 | 121.2 ± 8.47 | 257.9 ± 69.61 a,b,c | 140.1 ± 6.88 d |
CG: control group; VG: vehicle group; QG: quercetin group; CSG: cigarette smoke group; QCSG: quercetin and cigarette smoke group. Vv [a]: volume densities of alveolar air space; Vv [sa]: volume densities of alveolar septa; Vv [col]: volume density of collagen fibers; Vv [ela]: volume density of elastic fibers. The letter a represents a statistical difference between groups compared to CG. The letter b represents a statistical difference between groups compared to VG. The letter c represents a statistical difference between groups compared to QG. The letter d represents a statistical difference between groups compared to CSG. For Lm, the data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation and statistical analyses were performed using the analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s post-test, n = 5–7 animals per group (p < 0.05). For Vv [a], Vv [sa], Vv [col] and Vv [ela], the data are expressed in median, interquartile range (25% and 75%) value and were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis followed by the Dunn’s posttest, n = 5–7 animals per group (p < 0.05).