The decrease in glial cells with NEC is surprising given that ischemia or inflammation is a powerful stimulus to glial cell proliferation or GFAP expression, such as that which occurs with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-mediated inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract [25], or in inflammatory diseases of the gut such as ulcerative colitis [26]. Here, GFAP is linked to necrotizing enterocolitis.