Accordingly, administering MDP, acting as a NOD2 agonist, to mice has been shown to reduce the severity of NEC through the dampening of TLR4 signaling.70 Moreover, Chan et al. found that an LPS-neutralizing peptide, which inhibits TLR4 signaling, mitigates the pathological features of NEC in the rat jejunum.225 Intriguingly, a study by Klerk et al. revealed that human DNA extracted from the fecal samples of preterm infants exhibited increased TLR4 methylation in those diagnosed with NEC,239 thereby providing further evidence for the involvement of TLR4 in the pathogenesis of the disease. Here, NOD2 is linked to necrotizing enterocolitis.