CHRNA4 and peripheral arterial disease: Furthermore, there was severe damage in the nAChR clusters, as shown by an increase in the number of fragments (3.2 ± 0.1 in PAD patients vs. 2.3 ± 0.1 in control subjects), a higher proportion of fragmented nAChR clusters (21.6% in PAD patients vs. 7.6% controls subjects), and an increased total distance between fragments (8.8 ± 0.8 μm in PAD patients vs. 4.6 ± 0.4 μm, Figure 5C–E).