Fig. 4

Quantitative and functional aspects of blood perfusion in the healed tissue. a Quantification of perfusion at day 27 after surgery was performed on the healed tissue compared with normal skin using laser Doppler imaging. b Percentage of vasodilation after ACh iontophoresis and c after SNP iontophoresis in SH-, Cytocare® 532- and ASC-treated mice. d One-way ANOVA was followed by a multiple comparison test to estimate the significance of differences for between-group comparisons. Significance was defined at P < 0.05 and ** p < 0.01 vs. control. Tissue sections obtained from the wound area 27 days after cell injection were stained with antibody against alpha smooth muscle actin and blood vessels in the total wound area were quantified. Representative images of the staining are displayed for each group. The Kruskal-Wallis test was followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test to estimate the significance of differences for between-group comparisons. * p < 0.05 compared to spontaneous healing. All data are expressed as mean ± SEM. Ach acetylcholine, ASCs adipose-derived stem cells, SH spontaneous healing, SNP sodium nitroprusside