Table 2.

Density of mast cells with different phenotypes in the gastric antrum.

	Pyloric Fragment
Groups	AB+	SAF+	AB+ SAF+
I	8 ± 2	1 ± 1	4 ± 1
II	14 ± 4	3 ± 1	13 ± 10
III - NT	49 ± 16*	5 ± 2	11 ± 4
III - MT	23 ± 4***	4 ± 2	13 ± 5
IV - NT	28 ± 5***	2 ± 1	23 ± 8
IV - MT	36 ± 8**#	13 ± 10	47 ± 12&

Histological preparation was performed as described in Materials and Methods. Values (number of cells per mm²) are expressed as mean ± SEM of 60 fields analysed per animal with a high power objective (40×). Alcian-blue (AB+), safranin (SAF+) and alcin-blue/safranin positive cells (AB+SAF+). ^* P < 0.05 vs. group I; ^# P < 0.01 vs. III - NT and - MT; ^& P < 0.05 vs. II.