Oral administration of dextran sodium sulphate induces a caecum-localized colitis in rabbits

Trichuris suis ova (TSO) have shown promising results in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but the mechanisms which underlies this therapeutic effect cannot be studied in mice and rats as T. suis fails to colonize the rodent intestine, whilst hatching in humans and rabbits. As a suitable rabbit IBD model is currently not available, we developed a rabbit colitis model by administration of dextran sodium sulphate (DSS). White Himalayan rabbits (n = 12) received 0.1% DSS in the daily water supply for five days. Clinical symptoms were monitored daily, and rabbits were sacrificed at different time points. A genomewide expression analysis was performed with RNA isolated from caecal lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) and intestinal epithelial cells (IEC). The disease activity index of DSS rabbits increased up to 2.1 ± 0.4 (n = 6) at day 10 (controls <0.5). DSS induced a caecum-localized pathology with crypt architectural distortion, stunted villous surface and inflammatory infiltrate in the lamina propria. The histopathology score reached a peak of 14.2 ± 4.9 (n = 4) at day 10 (controls 7.7 ± 0.9, n = 5). Expression profiling revealed an enrichment of IBD-related genes in both LPMC and IEC. Innate inflammatory response, Th17 signalling and chemotaxis were among the pathways affected significantly. We describe a reproducible and reliable rabbit model of DSS colitis. Localization of the inflammation in the caecum and its similarities to IBD make this model particularly suitable to study TSO therapy in vivo

Novel GluN2B selective NMDA receptor antagonists: relative configuration of 7-methoxy-2-methyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepin-1-ols

The title compounds, C22H29NO2 (3) and C22H29NO2 (4) [systematic names: (1S*,2R*)-7-methoxy-2-methyl-3-(4-phenylbutyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepin-1-ol and (1R*,2R*)-7-methoxy-2-methyl-3-(4-phenylbutyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepin-1-ol, are diastereomers with the relative configuration of the adjacent hydroxyl and methyl groups at the seven-membered azepine ring being trans in (3) and cis in (4). In the crystals the orientation of these groups is −anti-periplanar (3) and +syn-clinal (4). In both cases, the crystals studied proved to be of a racemic mixture, with relative configurations (R*,S*)-3 and (R*,R*)-4. In both compounds, the seven-membered azepine ring has a chair-like conformation, and the 4-phenylbutyl side chain adopts a extended conformation in (R*,S*)-3, but a twisted conformation in (R*,R*)-4. In the crystal of (S*,R*)-3, molecules are linked via C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming slabs parallel to the ac plane. In the crystal of (R*,R*)-4, molecules are linked via O—H...N hydrogen bonds, forming chains propagating along the c-axis direction. The chains are linked by C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming slabs parallel to the ac plane

Preventive Trichuris suis ova (TSO) treatment protects immunocompetent rabbits from DSS colitis but may be detrimental under conditions of immunosuppression

Trichuris suis ova (TSO) have been tested for therapeutic application in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) yet understanding of the underlying mechanisms and safety in an immunocompromised host is limited due to lack of a suitable animal model. We used a recently established rabbit model of dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) induced colitis to study the efficacy, mechanisms and safety of TSO therapy in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed animals. TSO treatment prevented the DSS induced weight loss, delayed the onset of DSS induced symptoms by 2 days and significantly reduced the disease activity (DAI). TSO treatment protected caecal histology and prevented the colitis-associated loss in faecal microbiota diversity. Mainly the transcriptome of lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) was affected by TSO treatment, showing dampened innate and adaptive inflammatory responses. The protective effect of TSO was lost in immunosuppressed rabbits, where TSO exacerbated colitis. Our data show that preventive TSO treatment ameliorates colitis severity in immunocompetent rabbits, modulates LPMC immune responses and reduces faecal dysbiosis. In contrast, the same TSO treatment exacerbates colitis in immunosuppressed animals. Our data provide further evidence for a therapeutic effect of TSO in IBD, yet caution is required with regard to TSO treatment in immunosuppressed patients