FIGURE 3.

Probiotic lyophilized formulations can interfere in the population of goblet cells in the duodenal, jejunum, and ileum section of 5-FU-induced mucositis mice. (A, B, C) Photomicrographs of the duodenal, jejunum, and ileum, stained by PAS, of BALB/c mice submitted to 5-FU-induced mucositis and those that received the probiotic lyophilized formulations. The animals were gavage with: PBS pH 7.4 (Naive group and 5-FU inflamed control group); 12% skimmed milk supplemented with 30% WPI and Fructooligosaccharide (Matrix); a formulation containing L. casei BL23, a formulation containing the mix of probiotics (Symbiotic). The photos show the ×20 magnification. Scale bar = 100 µm (D, E, F) Quantification of goblet cells in the section of the duodenal, jejunum, and ileum by field of highest magnification (×40; 108.2 µm²). Results were expressed as means ± standard deviation (n = 6–9). One-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc tests were used for multiple comparison. Asterisks represent statistically significant differences as follows: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001.