Fig. 5
Histological cross-section of gastrocnemius and soleus muscles stained with H&E, viewed under 400x magnification. (a) Control group showing reduced fibre area and minimum ferret diameter (1079.5 ± 135.5 μm², 31.34 ± 1.30 μm), (b) Pycnogenol group with increased fibre area and minimum ferret diameter compared to control group(1362.9 ± 108.2 μm², 35.16 ± 1.90 μm, ***p < 0.001 vs. Control) and hypertrophy, fibre splitting, and reduced myofiber separation(indicated by *), and (c) Sham group with normal morphology (2840.40 ± 127.34 μm²). (d) Bar graph showing the distribution of Minimum ferrets diameter (µm) and cross sectional area of muscle fibre (e) for Sham, Control, and Pycnogenol groups (n = 7 per group). The Pycnogenol group shows statistically significantly higher values compared to Control. Statistical significance assessed using one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test (n = 7 per group, ***p < 0.001).
