Fig. 4

Loss of GFAP-ir astrocytes and overrepresentation of gliovascular components Aq4-ir astrocytes in the PVN of T2DM individuals. a Representative images of GFAP-ir in the PVN of control (n = 20) and T2DM (n = 26) subjects. Plot of astrocytic parameters b GFAP-ir soma number/mm² (cell density), c GFAP-ir average soma size and d relative masked area by GFAP-ir astrocytes. e Representative images of Aq4-ir in the PVN of control and T2DM subjects, the cells framed in the left panel (e1 and e3) are displayed at a high magnification in the right panel (e2 and e4). f Quantitative analysis of Aq4-ir cells/mm² (density) and g relative masked area of Aq4-ir astroglia. h Representative images of alpha-SMA-ir in the PVN of control and T2DM subjects and i plots of alpha-SMA-ir vessel number in the PVN; j quantitative analysis of alpha-SMA-ir masked area. Scale bar: 10 µm in a, e2 and e4, 50 µm in e1 and e3; 40 µm in h