Fig. 2.
Severity and incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in neonatal rat model. A: histological NEC score in the H. hepaticus-free formula-fed rats (FF) (△; n = 38) and in the H. hepaticus-infected formula-fed rats (FF+H.hep) (●; n = 35). Ileal damage was assessed using the histological scoring scale of 0 (normal) to 4 (necrosis), as previously described (7, 12, 26). B: incidence of NEC in the neonatal rat model of NEC. Animals with scores ≥2 are considered NEC positive, and animals with ileal damage <2 do not have NEC. *P ≤ 0.01 vs. FF, χ2 analysis.