Figure 4
Cell area and relative Nav1.8 immunofluorescence intensity. Histograms for neurons in tumor-injected (A) ipsilateral (n = 521), (B) contralateral (n = 449) and (C) normal DRG (n = 549). Grey and black denote neurons with Nav1.8 immunofluorescence relative intensity >20% and >50%, respectively. Neurons are divided into small (cross-sectional area <400 μm2, diameter 23 μm), medium (400-800 μm2, diameter 23-32 μm) and large (>800 μm2, diameter 32 μm). (D) Semiquantitative analysis of the percentage of Nav1.8 immunofluorescent-positive (>20% relative intensity) cells in small, medium and large DRG neurons. The percentage of positive small neurons is significantly (P < 0.01) lower in tumor-injected bilateral DRG compared to the normal group. No differences are evident for medium and large neurons. *P < 0.01 (χ 2 test) compared to normal rats.