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Updated: May 18, 2026
Non-invasive Assessment of the Efficacy of New Therapeutics for Intestinal Pathologies Using Serial Endoscopic Imaging of Live Mice
Published on: March 10, 2015
Effective treatment of mouse experimental colitis by alpha 2 integrin antibody: comparison with alpha 4 antibody and
L Gillberg1, S Berg, P J de Verdier
1Department of Medicine, Gastroenterology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. linda.gillberg@ki.se
Aim:
To compare the therapeutic effect of α(2) and α(4) integrin-blocking antibodies to conventional inflammatory bowel disease drugs methotrexate, 5-aminosalicylic acid and azathioprine in the dextran sulphate sodium mouse colitis model.
Methods:
Colitis was induced in balb/c mice with 2.5-3.0% dextran sulphate sodium. Treatment was given daily for 7 days after the onset of colitis, by rectal installation. Clinical signs of disease were assessed daily using a disease activity index. After 19 days, all animals were killed and colon samples collected for histological grading and mRNA/protein analysis. All treatment groups were compared with an untreated control group and a treatment group receiving dextran sulphate sodium alone to monitor the potential degree of clinical remission.
Results:
Treatment with anti-α(2) antibodies and methotrexate reduced the body weight loss. At the end of treatment, anti-α(2) antibodies reduced rectal bleeding, while methotrexate reduced the disease activity index score. Histological evaluation showed that anti-α(2) antibodies, methotrexate, 5-aminosalicylic acid and azathioprine treatment reduced the acute inflammation; methotrexate was the only treatment with effect on the crypt score. Compared with the dextran sulphate sodium alone group, the methotrexate group showed down-regulation of IL-1β at the mRNA level, while the anti-α(2) antibody group displayed decreased protein expression of iNOS and IL-1β.
Conclusions:
Specific blocking of extravascular trafficking of leucocytes with α(2)-antibodies could be a new beneficial drug target in inflammatory bowel disease.
