Figure 1. Histopathology of proximal colon in response to ethanol and tributyrin.

Mice were fed an EtOH (5% v/v) containing liquid diet or pair-fed a diet with maltose-dextrin isocalorically substituted for ethanol for 10 days. Diets were supplemented with glycerol or tributyrin (5 mM). Mice were then treated with a single 5 g/kg gavage of ethanol the next day containing glycerol or tributyrin (2.5 mM). At 9 hr post-gavage, proximal colon was collected and used to prepare RNA or embedded in OCT for histology. Sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and bright-field images captured and analyzed. A) Number of goblet cells/villi were enumerated. B) Villus tip-to-crypt depth was measured (um); 10 crypts per section were evaluated. C) Expression of ITF mRNA was detected in proximal colon using qRT-PCR. D) Representative H&E histological sections of proximal colon from each treatment group are shown. The images are taken by Olympus BX41 microscope with 100× magnification (10×10).

Images are representative of at least replicate images captured per mouse in 4–6 mice per treatment group. Data are the mean ± SEM.