Fig. 3

Opposite expression of HIF-α and VEGF in glandular stomach of rats after diabetes induction. (magnification 20 ×). Semiquantitative immunohistomorphological analysis of glandular HIF-α and VEGF expression of diabetic and control rats. The arbitrary lines presented in illustrations (a) and (b) divide the entire gastric glands into three areas named neck, mid, and bottom areas. The neck area includes very narrow isthmus and neck areas of gastric glands; mid area, the upper area of gastric gland base; bottom area, the deep area of gastric gland base. a, c, e Semiquantitative immunohistomorphological analysis of glandular VEGF expression in diabetic and control groups. a HIF-α immunostained longitudinal sections of glandular stomach mucosa (magnification × 20) demonstrate general increase of stain intensity of HIF-α immunoreactive glandular cells (brown color) most prominently in the neck and the bottom of principal glands of diabetic compared with control groups. c: SUM IOD of HIF-1α expression level in control, 4 W and 12 W diabetic gastric tissue. e Significantly increased stain intensity of HIF-α immunoreactive cells in neck and the bottom area of principal glands of diabetic (black gray columns) compared with control (white columns) groups. b, d, f Semiquantitative immunohistomorphological analysis of glandular VEGF expression in diabetic and control groups. b VEGF immunostained longitudinal sections of glandular stomach mucosa (magnification × 20) demonstrate a gradually increase stain intensity (most prominent in the neck and Mid area) of VEGF immunoreactive glandular cells (brown color) in diabetic compared with control groups. d SUM IOD of VEGF expression level in control, 4 W and 12 W diabetic gastric tissue. Data are presented as mean ± SD. Data are shown as mean ± SEM, n = 10 rats per group. *p < 0.05 vs the control group. ^#p < 0.05 vs the 4 W diabetic group. Bar = 50 μm