The paraffin blocks were cut with a rotary microtome to a thickness of 5 µm in 10 transverse and semiseriated cuts. The blades were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and then mounted on microscope slides with Entellan resin (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) between the blade and the coverslip. The morphometry of the intestinal villus was investigated using optical image
capture and measurement with Image Pro-Plus 4.5 software (Media Cybernetics, Silver Spring, MD)