Fig. 1
Bleomycin (BLM) caused esophageal and intestinal hyperproliferative and prefibrotic response. a Schematic representation of the experimental protocol. Osmotic pumps containing 200 μL of BLM (125 mg/kg) or NS were implanted subcutaneously onto the backs of C57BL/6 mice on day 0. The pumps delivered their contents at a rate of 1.0 μg/h for 7 days. These mice were then sacrificed on day 28 (4 w) or day 42 (6 w). b Body weight change from day 0 to day 28 or day 42 in C57BL/6 mice. The body weight change was calculated as [(body weight on day 28 or day 42) − (body weight on day 0)] × (body weight on day 0)−1 × 100(%). Each dot indicates the body weight change of an individual mouse. c, d Representative images of esophageal (c) and intestinal (d) sections stained with Masson’s trichrome (MT) at × 40 magnification (c the straight line represents 100 μm; d the straight line represents 200 μm). e, f The thickness (lamina–muscularis mucosa distance) of esophageal (e) and intestinal (f) fibrotic tissue stained with MT (n = 5–7 mice per group). Bars represent mean + SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s multiple comparison test. NS, normal saline; BLM, bleomycin