A Proposed Standardized Scoring Equation for Murine Models of Colitis

Area of Science:

• Pre-clinical research
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) modeling
• Murine models of colitis

Background:

• Histological scoring of colitis is crucial for grading severity in pre-clinical inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) mouse models.
• Lack of a standardized scoring system hinders consistent research across laboratories.
• Currently, over 30 different scoring systems exist within the IBD research community.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a simplified, standardized scoring equation for colitis severity in pre-clinical IBD research.
• To streamline and advance research on pre-clinical models of colitis.
• To establish a consistent method for evaluating colitis severity in murine models.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multiple linear regression analysis.
• Identified 4 significant canonical characteristics of colitis out of 8.
• Developed a simplified model equation with a high goodness-of-fit (R² = 0.908).

Main Results:

• The developed scoring model demonstrated strong performance in both non-ulcerative and ulcerative mouse models of colitis.
• The model effectively assesses colitis severity.
• Achieved a high coefficient of determination (R² = 0.908) indicating a good fit.

Conclusions:

• The Boone-Mayer Scoring System is proposed as a standardized method for assessing colitis severity in murine models of IBD.
• This system aims to improve consistency and comparability of results across pre-clinical IBD research laboratories.
• A website with further details is available: https://sites.nd.edu/lauren-mayer/