Figure 2. Lactobacillus reuteri-interleukin (IL-22) gavage at 24 h after total body irradiation (TBI) rescues and preserves critical leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5+) cells in ileum of Lgr5+ green fluorescent protein (GFP)+ mice at day 7. A: Groups of 10 mice received 9.25 Gy TBI, then 24 h later gavage of 100 μl of saline containing 109 Lactobacillus reuteri-IL-22. At day 7, mice were sacrificed, ileum removed and fixed, as described in prior studies (5, 6), then 20 cross-sections of ileum were scored for number of Lgr5+ GFP+ intestinal stem cells. Results are the mean ± SEM. *Significantly different at p=0.0357. B: Photographs of Lgr5+ cells in ileum from control irradiated mice and irradiated mice treated with Lactobacillus- IL-22. Original magnification, ×1000.