Figure 7.

Histological analysis of injured nerves 10 weeks after surgery. (A) Photograph of harvested nerves in the sham, suture, fibrin, and DNNA groups. (B) Masson’s Trichrome staining of nerves in each group. (C) Semi-quantification of collagen areas in each group (n=4–6). (D) Myofibroblast determination by IF staining. Red: αSMA stained myofibroblasts, blue: DAPI stained nucleus. (E) Semi-quantification of αSMA positive areas in each group (n=4–6). (F) Macrophage determination by IF staining. Red: CD68 stained macrophages, blue: DAPI stained nucleus. (G) Semi-quantification of CD68 positive areas in each group (n=4–6). (H) Axon and myelin determination by IF staining. Red: TUBB3 stained axons, green: MBP stained myelin, blue: DAPI stained nucleus. (I) Semi-quantification of TUBB3 positive areas in each group (n=4–6). All quantitative data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. Asterisks indicate statistically significant comparisons, with *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001, by Student’s t-test or one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests.