Increased Nerve Growth Factor Signaling in Sensory Neurons of Early Diabetic Rats Is Corrected by Electroacupuncture
Table 2
Analysis of morphometric and colocalization indexes for the three experimental groups (CTRL, STZ, and STZ + EA) after a mask was applied to isolate the basal cell layer of the skin and laminae I and II in the spinal cord.
Morphometry
Colocalization
Skin
Tissue intensity
Vesicles number
Vesicles intensity
Diameter (μm)
Pearson's coefficient
Manders' coefficient TrkA/p75NTR
Manders' coefficient p75NTR /TrkA
CTRL
TrkA
33.59 ± 1.40
594 ± 71.52
151.83 ± 26.51
0.56 ± 0.09
0.18 ± 0.06
0.02 ± 0.01
0.79 ± 0.08
p75NTR
5.55 ± 2.78
63 ± 25.48
15.27 ± 8.29
0.38 ± 0.03
STZ
TrkA
44.26 ± 6.81
643 ± 119.18
111.80 ± 21.05
0.44 ± 0.08
0.01 ± 0.04
0.11 ± 0.01
0.64 ± 0.05
p75NTR
14.27 ± 0.34
193 ± 50.50
75.03 ± 24.74
0.46 ± 0.04
STZ + EA
TrkA
44.93 ± 6.43
511 ± 93.38
115.96 ± 22.65
0.50 ± 0.13
0.01 ± 0.03
0.15 ± 0.12
0.63 ± 0.08
p75NTR
12.12 ± 2.03
83 ± 13.00
38.13 ± 18.35
0.34 ± 0.18
Spinal cord
Tissue intensity
Terminals number
Terminals intensity
Diameter (μm)
CTRL
TrkA
30.62 ± 8.52
634 ± 31.18
97.53 ± 9.50
2.21 ± 0.42
0.05 ± 0.05
0.63 ± 0.26
0.36 ± 0.17
p75NTR
37.66 ± 11.82
886 ± 48.74
87.52 ± 5.91
1.42 ± 0.55
STZ
TrkA
47.73 ± 5.68
677 ± 21.65
127.83 ± 10.67
1.79 ± 0.18
0.06 ± 0.07
0.19 ± 0.18
0.57 ± 0.12
p75NTR
26.00 ± 3.26
687 ± 150.19
49.51 ± 5.70
2.18 ± 0.39
STZ + EA
TrkA
23.91 ± 3.5
676 ± 52.88
69.84 ± 19.90
1.66 ± 0.17
0.01 ± 0.01
0.34 ± 0.09
0.21 ± 0.08
p75NTR
29.18 ± 3.13
725 ± 89.55
71.52 ± 23.52
1.77 ± 0.31
Morphometry describes the total fluorescence intensity of the tissue isolated in the mask, the vesicles or terminal numbers, their fluorescence intensity, and their diameter. Data are reported as mean ± SD and obtained by one-way ANOVA. Tukey’s test and variation analysis performed on data presented in Table 2 are reported in Table 3. Colocalization Pearson’s coefficient describes the relationship between the pixel intensities of the two channels by linear regression. Values −1 to 0.5 indicate absence of colocalization and values 0.5 to 1 indicate colocalization. Manders’ coefficient indicates the proportion of signal of one channel overlapping with signals of another channel. Values <0.5 indicate absence of overlapping; values >0.5 indicate overlapping between channels.
