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Fig. 3 | BMC Nephrology

Fig. 3

From: Novel methods for microCT-based analyses of vasculature in the renal cortex reveal a loss of perfusable arterioles and glomeruli in eNOS-/- mice

Fig. 3

Three-dimensional morphometric analysis of vascular volume and structure in the whole kidney reveals specific deficiencies in the vascular structure of eNOS-/- mice. Representative images of the total perfused renal vasculature illustrate the perfusion deficiency the cortex and smaller vessels in mice eNOS-/- mice (b and d) compared to WT mice (a and c). Three-dimensional quantification revealed the deletion of eNOS did not alter (e) the total kidney volume or (f) the total vascular volume. However, (g) the vascular volume/total kidney volume and (h) the vascular number in eNOS-/- kidneys was significantly lower than in WT kidneys. i Histograms illustrating the total vascular volume at each possible thickness were created and the total volume of perfused vessels at each given thickness was compared between genotypes. This analysis demonstrated a deficit in the number of perfused vessels in the range of 20–80 μm in thickness in the eNOS-/- kidneys compared to WT. All data are mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05 vs. Wildtype by Student’s t-test

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