## 3 Results
### Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM): Collagen Fibrils  
Figure 7 depicts the electron micrograph (TEM) of rat skin, showing an overview of the collagen fibers. Compared with the control (SC, OE) groups, the number of collagen bundles of the OC group was considerably smaller, and the spaces between bundles were wider following ovariectomy (OC group). The number of collagen bundles and their sizes were increased when the ovx rats were treated with EB (OE group) or YCJ feeding (OJ groups). Therefore, the space between the bundles of the OJ groups became narrower when compared with the SC, OE, and OC groups, as confirmed by the cross- and long sections  
Figure 6: Electron micrograph (TEM)of the dermo-epidermal junction of rat skin epidermis (2000\(\times\)). The junctions of rats treated with YCJ (OJ groups) were not different from the NC and SC groups. In contrast, the dermo-epidermal junctions of the OC and OE groups had markedly reduced irregularities of the basal borders compared to those of the NC, SC, and OJ groups. The papillary layer of the dermis had far fewer collagen fibers and was loosely packed. In the OC and OE groups, the spaces between papillary and reticular layers were wider compared with the NC, SC, and OJ groups. In addition, the collagen fibers of the reticular layer of the OC and OE groups were packed into much smaller bundles compared with the other groups. NC = normal control (baseline) rats; SC = sham-operated rats; OC = ovariectomized (ovx) rats; OE = ovx rats given estradiol benzoate (EB) 2.5 \(\upmu\)g/kg BW/day; OJ10 = ovx rats given YCJ at 10 mL/kg BW/day; OJ20 = ovx rats given YCJ at 20 mL/kg BW/day; OJ40 = ovx rats given YCJ at 40 mL/kg BW/day. B = basementmem-brane, C = collagen fibers, D = dermis (yellow line), E = epidermis (white line), H = hemidesmosome. Bar = 2 \(\upmu\)m.  
(Figures 8 and 9, respectively). Those observations were confirmed when the collagen fibrils' diameters in the thick sections of the dermis (Figure 2D) and the thin sections (Figure 2E) were measured. The changes mentioned above were dose-related, with the OJ40 group presenting the best results, even though there was no significant difference among all three YCJ treatments (Figure 2D,E).  
Figure 7: Electron micrograph (TEM) of rat skin showing an overview of collagen fibers (2000\(\times\)). The collagen fibers of the control (NC and SC) groups are arranged in parallel lines. Compared with the control groups, the collagen bundles of the OC group were much smaller. In contrast, collagen fibers combined in the YCJ (OJ) groups into large bundles, particularly that of the OJ40 group. Therefore, in the OJ groups, the space between the bundles (yellow arrows) became narrower when compared with the SC, OC, and OE groups. Yellow arrows indicate spaces between the collagen bundles. NC = normal control (baseline) rats; SC = sham-operated rats; OC = ovariectomized (ovx) rats; OE = ovx rats given estradiol benzoate (EB) 2.5 \(\upmu\)g/kg BW/day; OJ10 = ovx rats given YCJ at 10 mL/kg BW/day; OJ20 = ovx rats given YCJ at 20 mL/kg BW/day; OJ40 = ovx rats given YCJ at 40 mL/kg BW/day.Bar = 5 \(\upmu\)m.  
Figure 8: Electron micrograph (TEM) of rat skin collagen fibrils of the dermis (cross-sections; 20,000\(\times\)). The cross-sections show the ultrastructure of the collagen fibrils. The collagen diameters of the OC group were the smallest, and those of the OJ40 group were the largest. Furthermore, in the OC group, intercellular spaces between collagen fibrils were wider than in the controls (SC and OE groups) and in all three OJ groups (OJ10, OJ20, and OJ40 groups). NC = normal control (baseline) rats; SC = sham-operated rats; OC = ovariectomized (ovx) rats; OE = ovx rats given estradiol benzoate (EB) 2.5 \(\upmu\)g/kg BW/day; OJ10 = ovx rats given YCJ at 10 mL/kg BW/day; OJ20 = ovx rats given YCJ at 20 mL/kg BW/day; OJ40 = ovx rats given YCJ at 40 mL/kg BW/day. Bar = 500 \(\upmu\)m.