Fig. 3

Morphology of osteoblast and osteoclast cells in the callus. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) images of osteoblasts at 3 weeks after fracture (3 W), without long-term hyperglycaemia (LT-HG) (a) and with LT-HG (b), White arrows indicate Osteoblasts. Osteoblasts are spindle-shaped cells that arranged on the bone surface. Graph of measured intercellular spaces for osteoblasts at 3 W (c); HE images of osteoclasts, without LT-HG (d) and with LH-HG (e). Graphs of osteoclasts number in the 400X field of view of an optical microscope (f); Immunohistochemistry of osteoclasts with anti-RANK antibody, without LT-HG (g) and with LT-HG (h). Osteoclasts may contain several to dozens of nuclei with eosinophilic cytoplasm. Graph of the number of nuclei per osteoclast. (All bar: 100 μm). *: p < 0.05. N.S: no significant difference. LT-HG positive; n = 10, LT-HG negative; n = 10