Intestinal Protective Effects of Herbal-Based Formulations in Rats against Neomycin Insult
Figure 6
Representative microscopic images of hematoxylin- and eosin-stained colonic tissue sections of rats in different experimental groups. The detailed treatment regimen and experimental conditions are described in Section 2. Column (a): original magnification ×10; Column (b): an enlarged projection (original magnification ×20) of a selected portion of the tissue section represented by (a). The hollow and solid arrowhead represents the mucus layer and crypts, respectively. The tissue sections of control animals show normal histological architecture of the mucosa characterized by the presence of distinct and intact mucus layer and the regular appearance of deep crypts that are open to the surface of epithelium. In contrast, the colonic mucosa of the neomycin-treated rats demonstrates an aberrant structure with the following features: a well-defined surface epithelium but with a non-prominent and disrupted outer mucus layer; deprivation of deep crypts that are open to the surface of epithelium; a strikingly high abundance of smaller and aberrant crypts that are dispersed in multilayers. The administration of both herbal formulations as well as the probiotic in the neomycin-treated rats tends to restore the normal architecture of the cecum but with varied degrees.
