FIGURE 5.

Epo protected intestinal barrier function in an NEC animal model. Preterm neonatal rats delivered by cesarean section from Sprague-Dawley dams were fed with formula ± 0.1 unit/ml Epo or 30 ng/ml TGF-β (as a treatment control for Epo) and stressed to induce NEC. Naturally born, unstressed, and dam-fed pups were included as healthy controls. In vivo barrier function was determined in all surviving pups at the end of the animal experiment on day 5 as described under “Materials and Methods.” Data from seven animal experiments are presented as mean ± S.E. * and **depict statistical significance with p values <0.05 and 0.01, respectively, by one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction. Higher levels of the tracer FITC-dextran in blood indicate poorer intestinal barrier function.