【Animal Modeling】-Improvement and evaluation of the establishment method of neonatal rat necrotizing enterocolitis model

  Objective: To improve and compare the methods for establishing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) animal models commonly used at home and abroad, and to clarify simple and effective NEC modeling methods.

  Method: Use newborn SD rats within 2 hours after birth and randomly divide them into 5 groups. There were 10 in the control group and 20 in each group in the experimental group. Group A and surrogate rats were raised in the same cage without intervention; group B was artificial feeding + hypoxia and hypoxia stimulation + (lipopolysaccharide) LPS oral administration (5 mg/kg body weight); group C was artificial feeding + hypoxia cold stimulation + LPS Mandatory oral administration (10mg/kg); group D artificial feeding + hypoxia cold stimulation + LPS intraperitoneal injection (2mg/kg); group E artificial feeding + hypoxia cold stimulation + LPS intraperitoneal injection (5mg/kg). Observe the activity status and weight changes of newborn rats every day. After the experiment, in order to assess the degree of pathological damage of the small intestine, the small intestine tissue was taken for hematoxylin-eosin staining to detect the content of tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-α) in the small intestine tissue.

  Result: Newborn rats in the experimental group all experienced various degrees of hypoactivity, abdominal distension, diarrhea, black stool, and weight loss. The pathological score showed that the pathological damage score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (Pu003c0.05). The incidence of NEC in the LPS intraperitoneal injection group (D, E) was higher than that in the oral administration group (B, C) (Pu003c0.05), while the LPS high-dose (5mg/kg) intraperitoneal injection group did not. EC-related mortality was significantly higher In other groups (Pu003c0.05).

  Conclusion: The method of artificial feeding and hypoxia cold stimulation combined with low-dose LPS (2mg/kg) intraperitoneal injection to establish NEC is more operable and stable.