Fig. 4

Cross-sections from different areas of the uvula muscle of an OSA patient stained for desmin (DES, green), its corresponding mRNA (red), and DAPI (nuclei blue). Panel A show an area in the muscle with a relatively normal morphology, while panel B shows an area with an abnormal appearance. In panel B, note the high variability in fiber size and fiber form, the presence of fibrosis, the generally lower expression of mRNA, and the presence of fibers lacking immunostaining for both DES and its mRNA (asterisks). Scale bar=50μm. In panel C, the bar graph shows significantly higher expression values of desmin mRNA (*) in the OSA patients than in the healthy subjects, as revealed by RT-qPCR