PAS staining.
Rat paraffin-embedded kidney sections from perfused kidneys were stained using a periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Images were quantified with ImageJ using the Haematoxylin PAS color deconvolution plug-in. Corrected total cell intensity values were calculated as follows: integrated density (area of glomerulus × background mean gray value). Ten glomeruli were analyzed per rat.