Figure 5.

Gut stiffness index predicts the region-dependent fibrosis and severity of chronic colitis in mouse colon. A, The stress-strain responses showed that the stiffening of the colon was more severe in the distal region than in the proximal region. Gray areas show standard deviation. Gut stiffness index based on the slope of the stress-strain curves at ε=1.6 is normalized with respect to the proximal group. B, The GSI is increased by 19% in the distal colon compared with the proximal colon. C, The IF staining of collagen IV showed more excessive collagen deposition and more severe damage of the colon mucosa in the distal colon. D, The normalized CDI was greater in distal colon compared with the proximal colon. E, The correlation coefficient of GSI vs CDI across the proximal colon and the distal colon is 0.90 (n = 5, ^∗V.S. healthy group, P < .05, Student t test).