Fig. 2

Selective reduction of Oxt-ir in the PVN of T2DM subjects. a Representative images of Oxt-ir neurons in the PVN of control (n = 20) and T2DM (n = 26) subjects. Plot of neural parameters specifying b Oxt-ir soma number / mm² (neuronal density), c Oxt-ir average soma size and d relative masked area by the Oxt-ir cells. e Representative images of AVP-ir neurons in the PVN of control and T2DM subjects. Quantitative analysis of f AVP-ir soma number / mm² (neuronal density), g AVP-ir average soma size and h relative masked area by the AVP-ir cells. i Representative images of CRH-ir neurons in the PVN of control and diabetic subjects. Plot of j CRH-ir soma number / mm² (neuronal density), k CRH-ir average soma size and l relative masked area by the CRH-ir cells. Note that Oxt-ir neurons are drastically reduced in the PVN of diabetic subjects, whereas AVP- and CRH-containing neurons are unaltered in number, suggesting a selective effect of T2DM pathophysiology in Oxt neurons. Also note that the soma size of the CRH neurons is substantially smaller than the Oxt and AVP neurons, as CRH neurons only belong to the parvocellular component of PVN. Scale bar: 50 µm in a, e and i. Data are represented as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05. Significance was calculated using Student`s t test in b–d, f–h and j–l