All values were expressed as the mean ± standard deviation for 10 gerbils in each group. Histological observations were reported for 10 gerbils/group. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. In order to examine gross changes of H. pylori-infected Mongolian gerbils consuming RGE dietary supplements, food intake and body weight change were determined every wk during the experimental period. The weight gain and food intake were similar in all three groups (data not shown). This finding was supported by previous studies showing that H. pylori infection did not affect either body weight or food intake

in Mongolian gerbils [40] and [41]. To determine whether RGE inhibits H. pylori PCI-32765 colonization in gastric mucosa, the number of viable H. pylori in the stomachs of gerbils infected with H. pylori were determined after 6 wk of dietary supplementation with RGE ( Fig. 1A). In addition, stomach wet weights were compared between groups at the end of the experiment ( Fig. 1B). Animals infected with H. pylori had significantly more H. pylori colonization and greater stomach weight than noninfected animals. RGE supplementation had no effect on the number of viable H. pylori in the stomach. H. pylori-induced increases in the stomach weight tended to be smaller in the RGE-treatment group than in the control-diet

group, but this difference was not significant. RGE had no antibacterial effect and did not reduce pathologic changes of the stomach, such as edema, in animals infected with H. pylori. In H. pylori-infected animals, buy Vemurafenib moderate to severe gastritis was accompanied by PMN infiltration,

mainly neutrophil infiltration, and by lymphoid follicle formation in the mucosa and submucosa. The hyperplasia and mucous-gland metaplasia of epithelial cells in infected animals were obvious ( Fig. 2A, middle panel) in comparison with the normal gastric mucosal regions of noninfected animals ( Fig. 2A, left panel). The gastric mucosal lesions of aminophylline RGE-supplemented animals showed less evidence of inflammatory cell infiltration, hyperplasia, and intestinal metaplasia than those of infected animals fed the control diet ( Fig. 2A, right panel). H. pylori-induced chronic inflammation was reduced by RGE treatment. However, none of these differences between H. pylori-infected animals that were supplemented with RGE and those that were fed the control diet were significant. Taken together, RGE improved the histological grade of PMN infiltration, intestinal metaplasia, and hyperplasia in Mongolian gerbils, which suggests that RGE has an anti-inflammatory effect against H. pylori-induced gastric inflammation. As shown in Fig. 3A, MPO activity in gastric mucosa was increased by H. pylori infection, and was attenuated by RGE supplementation. The reduced MPO activity in the gastric mucosal tissues of the RGE-treatment group was associated with reduced infiltration by neutrophils ( Fig.