Figure 2

Representative hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining, Masson’s Trichrome (MT) staining, and immunohistochemistry. (A) H&E staining revealed prominent mucosal disruption and infiltration of inflammatory cells in wild-type colon. (magnification: × 100). Histological grading, determined by H&E staining, was higher in wild-type than TLR4^−/− mice. (B) MT staining of colon tissue samples revealed more severe fibrosis in wild-type than in TLR4^−/− mice (magnification: × 100). The proportion of MT-positive area, analyzed using ImageJ program, was significantly lower in TLR4^−/− than in wild-type colon tissue. (C) Immunohistochemistry detected increased migration of F4/80-positive cells in wild-type, as compared to TLR4^−/− mice (magnification: × 100 and × 400). The proportion of F4/80-positive region was markedly lower in TLR4^−/− as compared with wild-type mice. (D) The proportion of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive cells was higher in distorted mucosal structure of wild-type than TLR4^−/− mice (magnification: × 100 and × 400). Statistically significant results: *P-values < 0.05.