Fig. 4

Tubular epithelial VEGFR-2 expression in the 12 mmHg and 8 mmHg groups. a, d Negative control. b Increased proximal tubule VEGFR-2 expression in the 12 mmHg group. c Proximal tubule VEGFR-2 expression is stronger in the 12 mmHg group than in the 8 mmHg group. e Increased distal tubule VEGFR-2 expression in the 12 mmHg group. f Distal tubule VEGFR-2 expression is stronger in the 12 mmHg group than in the 8 mmHg group. Original magnification was × 400, and red dashed boxes show a higher magnification. Red arrows indicate positive VEGFR-2 expression. g The H-score of proximal tubule VEGFR-2 expression are significantly higher in the 12 mmHg group than in the 8 mmHg group (278.00 (269.37–282.05) vs 258.80 (248.93–268.91), p = 0.005) and distal tubule (288.80 (282.59–291.37) vs 279.40 (271.36–284.72), p = 0.02). Data are presented as median (95%CI). The two groups were compared using Mann-Whitney test; * p < 0.05