Effects of commercially produced almond by-products on chemotherapy-induced mucositis in rats

Figure 1 Effects of almond extracts on change in mass of gravel displaced between baseline values and 72 h following 5-fluorouracil or saline injection. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. 5-FU: 5-fluorouracil; PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline; AHE: Almond hull extract; ABW: Almond blanched water.

Figure 2 Effect of almond extracts on myeloperoxidase activity in the jejunum (A) and ileum (B) 72 h after either saline or 5-fluorouracil injection. Data are expressed as mean (MPO units/g tissue) ± SEM. ^aP < 0.05 vs saline + PBS, ^bP < 0.01 vs saline + PBS, ^cP < 0.05 vs 5-FU + PBS, ^dP < 0.01 vs 5-FU + PBS. 5-FU: 5-fluorouracil; PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline; AHE: Almond hull extract; ABW: Almond blanched water; MPO: Myeloperoxidase.

Figure 3 Representative photomicrographs (× 100) of the proximal jejunum and distal ileum sections stained with haematoxylin and eosin. A: Saline/PBS jejunum; B: 5-FU/PBS jejunum; C: Saline/PBS ileum; D: 5-FU/PBS ileum; E: 5-FU/ AHE2 jejunum; F: 5-FU/AHE1 ileum. Note: Blunting of villi, reduced goblet cell numbers, edema, mixed inflammatory infiltrate and loss of epithelial structure following 5-FU treatment. 5-FU: 5-fluorouracil; PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline; AHE: Almond hull extract; ABW: Almond blanched water.

Figure 4 Effect of almond extracts on disease severity score in the jejunum (A) and ileum (B) 72 h after either saline or 5-fluorouracil injection. The severity scores were rated based on 8 parameters on different layers of intestinal tissues. The box plots represent the first and third quartiles, horizontal lines represent the median disease severity score and the whisker ends represent the maximum and minimum score. ^bP < 0.01 vs saline + PBS. 5-FU: 5-fluorouracil; PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline; AHE: Almond hull extract; ABW: Almond blanched water.

Figure 5 Effect of almond extracts on villus height and crypt depth in the jejunum (A) and ileum (B) 72 h after either saline or 5-fluorouracil injection. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. ^aP < 0.05 vs saline + PBS, ^bP< 0.01 vs saline + PBS. 5-FU: 5-fluorouracil; PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline; AHE: Almond hull extract; ABW: Almond blanched water.