Fig. 3
Representative TUNEL-stained ileum sections and scoring of apoptosis. (a) Examples of apoptosis after TUNEL staining in the NEC group. The NEC score was 0 (full-term control group), 2 (full-term NEC group), 1 (preterm control group), or 3 (preterm NEC group). (b) Summary of the apoptosis score distributions. Compared with those of the full-term NEC group, the NEC apoptosis scores of the full-term NEC group were greater (**p < 0.01, t tests). Compared with those of the preterm NEC group, the NEC apoptosis scores of the preterm NEC group were significantly greater (**p < 0.01, t tests). The scores of the preterm NEC group were significantly greater than those of the full-term NEC group (**p < 0.01).
