Hi all, I wounld like to know how do you collect the stools from TNBS colitis mice. I found it's hard for C57BL/6 and Balb/c to discharge feces after 2.5%(wt/vol) TNBS enema. 50% mice refuse to discharge their feces. Some mice can only excrete a little brown liquid. I collect their stools by placing them to the empty box with some white tissues and I post a image below about my stool collecting setups. Besides, the body weight of those mice decline rapidly after enema ,therefore I guess the mice may refuse to eat after enema, and which cause it lost weight and have no stools to discharge. But, the stool is important in TNBS colits scoring system. Could anyone please help me on that?
Hello Zhiheng Shi
I would like you to refer to the article below. It may be helpful.
Highlight:
After the colitis induction the animals develop several manifestations of acute colitis. Those include inconsistent stool formation and occult or even bloody diarrhea. Intracolonic administration of TNBS/ethanol to rats induces a severe illness characterized by bloody diarrhea and a dramatic loss of body weight during the first week. Then the body weight increases but diarrhea still persists for about two weeks. Introduction of TNBS, for example, led to significant weight loss (mean 10% loss in body weight) and development of liquid bloody stools in all exposed animals, whereas control (saline) animals remained healthy and gained weight (mean 30% gain over 12 days). Body weight loss is caused in part by the marked effects of TNBS itself on the gut (diarrhea and perhaps reduced fluid absorption additionally), but systemic inflammatory response may also play a role. Further non-specific signs that point to a general deterioration include piloerection of fur and decreased movements of the animals. The onset and severity of the aforementioned symptoms is variable and depends on the specific animal species, strain and the dosing of ethanol and TNBS that are administered. The significance of assessing those symptoms is reflected by the development of multiple scores that quantify acute intestinal inflammation.
Article The TNBS-induced colitis animal model: An overview
Best,