Histological analysis
Tissue harvested from the distal colon (1 cm from the rectum) was cut into segments, fixed with 10% formaldehyde overnight, embedded in paraffin, sectioned at 5 μm, mounted on clean glass slides, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for histological evaluation. Each slide was coded and analyzed in a blinded fashion by two investigators using light microscopy. Each sample was assigned a histological score based on cumulative scores assigned to colon characteristics including degree of epithelial damage, loss of crypt architecture, inflammatory cell infiltration, and edema. For each category, a score of 0 indicated normal appearance, a score of 1 indicated mild change, and a score of 2 indicated severe change, encompassing…