2.8. Hematoxylin and eosin staining & histopathology

Hematoxylin and eosin staining of the colons, small intestines, and liver were performed as previously described²² . Colon specimens were characterized according to the presence of epithelial neoplasia to: no adenomas/dysplasia (ND), adenomas with low-grade dysplasia (LGD) adenomas with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) and adenocarcinomas. The presence of non-specific colitis also was evaluated in the small intestine and the colon (data not shown). Liver specimens were assessed and characterized according to the severity of hepatocellular injury: normal, early steatosis without inflammation, and acute hepatitis (AHI). All histological analyses were performed blindly by a certified pathologist (I.C.). All tissue morphological measurements were performed in triplicate and the coefficient of variance was determined to be less than 5%. Monocytes/macrophages were observed by positive staining of CD68+ (Abcam, ab125212) cells in the colon tissue.