title: Longitudinal quantification of inflammation in the murine dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis model using μPET/CT.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study investigates whether deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose (FDG) micro-positron emission tomography (μPET)/computed tomography (CT) can serve as a tool for monitoring of the commonly used dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced murine model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  DSS-colitis was induced in Sv129 mice. In a first experiment, four animals were serially scanned with CT and FDG-μPET on days 0, 3, 7, 11, and 14. The ratio of the mean voxel count of the PET images in the colon and the brain was compared with the histological inflammation score and the colonic myeloperoxidase levels. A second experiment was performed to investigate whether FDG-μPET was able to detect differences in inflammation between two DSS-treated groups, one receiving placebo (n = 4) and one receiving dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG) (n = 4), a compound that protects against DSS-induced colitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The progression of the colonic/brain FDG-signal ratio (over days 0-14) agreed with the predicted histological inflammation score, obtained from a parallel DSS-experiment. Moreover, the quantification of normalized colonic FDG-activity at the final timepoint (day 14) showed an excellent correlation with both the MPO levels (Spearman's rho = 1) and the histological inflammation score (Spearman's rho = 0.949) of the scanned mice. The protective action of DMOG in DSS colitis was clearly demonstrated with FDG-μPET/CT (normalized colonic FDG-activity DMOG versus placebo: P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FDG-μPET-CT is a feasible and reliable noninvasive method to monitor murine DSS-induced colitis. The implementation of this technique in this widely used IBD model opens a new window for pathophysiological research and high-throughput screening of potential therapeutic compounds in preclinical IBD research.
authors: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Pieter.Hindryckx@UGent.be
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Hindryckx
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Staelens
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Devisscher
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Deleye
authors: F
authors: F
authors: De Vos
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Delrue
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Peeters
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Laukens
authors: M
authors: M
authors: De Vos
mesh_terms: D000600:Amino Acids, Dicarboxylic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D003092:Colitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D016264:Dextran Sulfate / Q000633:toxicity*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D000600:Amino Acids, Dicarboxylic; D016264:Dextran Sulfate; C040947:oxalylglycine