Broadband reflectance spectroscopy for establishing a quantitative metric of vascular leak using the Miles assay

Monitoring the physiological effects of biological mediators on vascular permeability is important for identifying potential targets for antivascular leak therapy. This therapy is relevant to treatments for pulmonary edema and other disorders. Current methods of quantifying vascular leak are in vitro and do not allow repeated measurement of the same animal. Using an in vivo diffuse reflectance optical method allows pharmacokinetic analysis of candidate antileak molecules. Here, vascular leak is assessed in mice and rats by using the Miles assay and introducing irritation both topically using mustard oil and intradermally using vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The severity of the leak is assessed using broadband diffuse reflectance spectroscopy with a fiber reflectance probe. Postprocessing techniques are applied to extract an artificial quantitative metric of leak from reflectance spectra at vascular leak sites on the skin of the animal. This leak metric is calculated with respect to elapsed time from irritation in both mustard oil and VEGF treatments on mice and VEGF treatments on rats, showing a repeatable increase in leak metric with leak severity. Furthermore, effects of pressure on the leak metric are observed to have minimal effect on the reflectance spectra, while spatial positioning showed spatially nonuniform leak sites.