Fig. 6

Prolonged oral meloxicam (MEL) treatment (20 mg/kg/24 h) has adverse effects on histology of stomach and small intestine. Representative hematoxylin–eosin staining of forestomach (upper panel), glandular stomach (middle panel), and proximal part of jejunum (bottom panel) of (a) control animals (left), (b) animals after 5 days of MEL (20 mg/kg/24 h) drinking water (d.w.) treatment (middle) and (c) one individual reaching humane endpoint at 96 h after start of treatment (right). Images of the control group have been used before in a previously published study¹⁰. (d) Histology score values of stomach and small intestine of male and female mice are significantly increased after 5 consecutive days of MEL d.w. treatment using one sample Wilcoxon test compared to untreated control group (control n = 6 per sex, MEL n = 7 per sex; **p < 0.01).