Fig. 2

Representative immunohistochemical staining showing nuclear localization of p-STAT3 in the antral glandular cells and stroma cells under low-power (100x) and high-power (400x) magnification of carriers of AA and GG STAT3 rs744166 genotypes: a and b, mock; c and d, medium brown-colored nuclei in the gastric stroma cells and glandular cells of a carrier of AA genotype and e and f, densely stained nuclei of 100 % of cells, both of the gastric stroma (arrow head) and glands (arrow) in a carrier of GG genotype. The percentage of positive cells for STAT3 was classified as 0 (none), 1 (≤ 50 %), 2 (50 to 90 %), and 3 (> 90 %) and staining intensity was graded in three step scale, as follows: 1 (low), 2 (medium) and 3 (high) intensity