Progression and variability of TNBS colitis-associated inflammation in rats assessed by contrast-enhanced and T2-weighted MRI

Abstract

Inflammation and therapeutic efficacy can be sensitively quantified noninvasively using MRI in TNBS-treated rats. This methodology provides unique and objective in vivo measures of inflammation that can guide dosing strategies, enhancing colitis research effectiveness and the assessment of potential IBD therapeutics.

Noninvasive Longitudinal Study of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarker for the Quantification of Colon Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Colitis

“…Similarly, in a small number of scientific articles, MRI was shown to be a promising instrument to study inflammation in IBD animal models through the measurement of colon wall thickening [31][32][33][34] or colon wall signal intensity, 31,33,34 often in conjunction with contrast agents. 29,32,[39][40][41][42] Nonetheless, the sensitivity, robustness, and reproducibility of MRI measurements have not yet been evaluated in small laboratory animals.…”

“…Indeed, a number of recent studies 31,34,39 have already underlined that spasmolytic agents or enemas may interfere with the physiopathology under investigation and hamper the longitudinal follow-up of the colitis model. Moreover, because no contrast agents, enemas, or spasmolytic agents were used before the acquisition, the final protocol used in this study was relatively cheap and did not require long or complicated animal preparation procedures.…”

In-vivo monitoring of acute DSS-Colitis using Colonoscopy, high resolution Ultrasound and bench-top Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Mice

“…To improve the safety of repeated MRI-examinations, the examination time was kept extremely short to a total scan time of 176 s, while other protocols in small rodents require roughly double that time for one imaging series and more than 20 min for the complete MRI [4,33]. In other experiments, information on the duration of the MRI procedure is not given [8,34,35], making it difficult to assess the value of the respective methods for routine application in the monitoring of experimental colitis.…”

“…Since reliable in vitro models for IBD are lacking, testing aetiological concepts and developing new therapeutic agents require animal colitis models. Several models of experimental colitis are well established in mice, using toxic agents or genetic modifications to induce specific types of colitis [4,5]. To evaluate the inflammatory activity of murine colitis in vivo, typically weight loss, stool consistency and rectal bleeding are monitored [6,7] .…”

“…Improving imaging capabilities in modern US imaging, especially regarding the high US resolution capacity, might make this technique more attractive for the examination of small animals. While a considerable amount of data and qualified protocols exist regarding colonoscopy in mice [10][11][12], only very limited experience has been reported in performing US [13], computed tomography [14] and MRI [4,[15][16][17] in small animals. To our knowledge, a direct comparison of these vivo techniques has not been undertaken so far.…”