New method for isolation of rat lamina propria macrophages in colonic tissue

Studies on intestinal cells in the lamina propria are important for understanding the cellular and immune responses in the gut. There is a lack of specific isolating procedures of macrophage cells in rats. Two different procedures of macrophage isolation of the lamina propria in rats are compared: a standard mice protocol for lymphocyte isolation (A) adapted to rat samples and a new protocol developed specifically for rats (B). Significant differences are observed when analyzing the effect of the isolation method on the cell number, viability and phenotype. This has important implications when further functional studies are required.