Using an experimental rat NEC model, Underwood and colleagues found increased intestinal mRNA expression of the AMPs lysozyme, secretory PLA2, and pancreatic-associated proteins 1 and 3 in rats with NEC compared to either dam-fed or formula-fed rats supplemented with the probiotic bacteria Bifidobacterium bifidum (B. bifidum), suggesting that AMP induction is a mucosal response to gut inflammation in NEC (73). This evidence concerns the gene REG3A and necrotizing enterocolitis.