The Distribution of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Human Beta-Defensin-2 (HBD-2), and Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) in Intra-Abdominal Adhesions in Children under One Year of Age

Table 3

Semiquantitative evaluation of immunoreactive structures.

		Experimental grouptb	Control group	U	p
VEGF	Median	++	++	124.0	0.089
	IQR	0.5	0.5
HBD-2	Median	++/+++	++/+++	185.5	0.951
	IQR	1.5	0.5
HGF	Median	0/+	0/+ to +	137.5	0.182
	IQR	1.0	0.85

Abbreviations: VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; HBD-2, human beta-defensin-2; HGF, hepatocyte growth factor; IQR, interquartile range; U, Mann Whitney U value. Quantification of structures: 0, no positive structures in the visual field; 0/+, occasionally positive structures in the visual field; +, few positive structures in the visual field; +/++, few to moderate positive structures in the visual field; ++, moderate positive structures in the visual field; ++/+++, moderate to numerous positive structures in the visual field.