Figure 5

Q-GRFT treatment did not reduce epithelial coverage of desmocollin-2 and occludin. (a) Representative fluorescent image showing desmocolin-2 (red), occludin (green), and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) nuclear staining (blue) in rectal tissue collected at the different timepoints. Images to the left show a selected tissue area at 20× magnification (scale bar = 100 µm), and the images to the right show the selected tissue (within the white rectangle) at 40× magnification (scale bar = 50 µm). (b, c) The graphs (between timepoints on the left and Q-GRFT vs. placebo on the right) show the % coverage of (b) desmocollin-2 and (c) occludin (percentage of the total assessed EP area that stained positively for each of these EJP markers) at the different timepoints for the placebo (orange; n = 4) and Q-GRFT (grey; n = 11) groups. All data are presented as median values across patient groups. Statistical significance was determined using the Friedman test, followed by Dunn's post-hoc test, when comparing results between the different timepoints. The Mann Whitney U test was used for comparisons between the Q-GRFT and placebo groups. Representative images were selected from the median occludin % coverage baseline values. Abbreviations: BL, baseline; 1 h and 24 h represent the hours after application of the rectal douche (either Q-GRFT or placebo).