Animal Inhalation Models to Investigate Modulation of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) comprise primarily two disease manifestations, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), each with distinctive clinical and pathological features. Environmental and clinical factors strongly affect the development and clinical outcomes of IBDs. Among environmental factors, cigarette smoke (CS) is considered the most important risk factor for CD, while it attenuates the disease course of UC. Various animal models have been used to assess the impact of CS on intestinal pathophysiology. This chapter examines the suitability of animal inhalation/smoke exposure models for assessing the contrary effects of CS on UC and CD. It presents an updated literature review of IBD mouse models and a description of possible mechanisms relevant to relationships between IBD and smoking. In addition, it summarises various technical inhalation approaches, in the context of mouse disease models of IBD.