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[Preprint]. 2024 Mar 2:2023.01.24.523981. Originally published 2023 Jan 25. [Version 2] doi: 10.1101/2023.01.24.523981

Fig. 1. Subepidermal Aβ fiber density a better indicator of diabetic mechanical allodynia.

Fig. 1.

(A) Immunofluorescence (IF) images of Meissner corpuscles and immunohistochemistry (IHC) images of free nerve endings in foot skin from control diet (CD) mice and two mouse models of diabetic neuropathy: high-fat diet (HFD) mice and HFD mice treated with low-dose streptozotocin (HFD + STZ). Meissner corpuscles are the S100+ rod-shaped terminations present in the dermal papillae near the dermal-epidermal junction. Filled arrowheads indicate the aberrant horizontally elongated corpuscles occasionally noted in HFD + STZ mice. (B) IF images of Meissner corpuscles double stained with S100 and neurofilament heavy-chain (NFH). Arrowheads indicate Aβ afferents of Meissner corpuscles undergoing axon degeneration or retraction. (C) Meissner corpuscle, (D) Subepidermal Aβ fiber and (E) free nerve ending densities (intraepidermal nerve fiber densities [IENFD]) in foot skin from CD, HFD and HFD + STZ mice. Statistics were performed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). (F) Simple linear regression analysis. Meissner corpuscle density (MCD): n = 13; Aβ fiber density: n = 12; IENFD: n = 22. Scale bars represent 100 μm in IF and 50 μm in IHC images. Error bars indicate standard error of means (SEM). Statistics were performed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA): **** p < 0.0001, *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05, ns = non-significant.