Rhubarb extract partially improves mucosal integrity in chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis

Table 5 Gastrointestinal organ lengths of rats gavaged daily with water, low-dose and high-dose rhubarb extract (1 mL) during an 8-d trial period and administered an intraperitoneal injection of saline or 5-fluorouracil on day 5

	Water + saline	Water + 5-FU	LDR + 5-FU	HDR+ 5-FU
Duodenum	5.5 ± 0.2	4.8 ± 0.1	5.1 ± 0.2	4.8 ± 0.2
Jejunum and ileum	71.6 ± 2.3	64.8 ± 0.9a	62.9 ± 1.8	63.5 ± 1.7
Colon	11.1 ± 0.3	10.6 ± 0.4	11.2 ± 0.2	10.8 ± 0.4

^aP < 0.05 vs water + saline. All values expressed as mean (cm) ± SEM. LDR: Low-dose RE; HDR: High-dose RE; RE: Rhubarb extract.