PAD resulted in a 61% removal of ganglia which was revealed in haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections (7.7±1.9 versus 19.7±3.2 ganglia, P=0.1, Mann–Whitney test; Fig. 6) and whole-mount ChAT stainings of PAD hearts (6.2±0.3 ganglia). Here, CHAT is linked to peripheral arterial disease.