The (13)C-butyrate breath test: a new non-invasive method for assessing colitis in a murine model

The conventional method for the real-time assessment of murine colitis requires a large number of animals. The (13)C-butyrate breath test could be useful for evaluating disease activity and the amelioration of human ulcerative colitis non-invasively. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether this test can be used to assess the phase of inflammation in murine colitis. We investigated the excretion of (13)CO2 measured by the (13)C-butyrate breath test after rectal instillation of butyrate in the DSS colitis model. The colon length, MPO activity, and histological damage were analyzed as parameters. The efficacy of salicylazosulfa-pyridine (SASP) on (13)CO2 excretion was also studied. The (13)CO2 excretion curves in the 0.5% DSS- and 0.75% DSS-treated groups were significantly lower than those in the normal group (P < 0.01, P < 0.01). Good correlation between the results of the breath test and the inflammation parameters was observed. The (13)CO2 excretion curve in DSS murine colitis after the administration of SASP was significantly higher than in the normal group (P < 0.01). The (13)C-butyrate breath test can be used to evaluate the inflammatory phase of DSS murine colitis, and it may be a new non-invasive method for assessing murine colitis.