Generation of a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Model in Mice by Repeated Ozone Exposure

Summary

This study describes the successful generation of a new chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) animal model by repeatedly exposing mice to high concentrations of ozone.

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by persistent airflow limitation and lung parenchymal destruction. It has a very high incidence in aging populations. The current conventional therapies for COPD focus mainly on symptom-modifying drugs; thus, the development of new therapies is urgently needed. Qualified animal models of COPD could help to characterize the underlying mechanisms and can be used for new drug screening. Current COPD models, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or the porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE)-induced emphysema model, generate COPD-like lesions in the lungs and airways but do not otherwise resemble the pathogenesis of human COPD. A cigarette smoke (CS)-induced model remains one of the most popular because it not only simulates COPD-like lesions in the respiratory system, but it is also based on one of the main hazardous materials that causes COPD in humans. However, the time-consuming and labor-intensive aspects of the CS-induced model dramatically limit its application in new drug screening. In this study, we successfully generated a new COPD model by exposing mice to high levels of ozone. This model demonstrated the following: 1) decreased forced expiratory volume 25, 50, and 75/forced vital capacity (FEV₂₅/FVC, FEV₅₀/FVC, and FEV₇₅/FVC), indicating the deterioration of lung function; 2) enlarged lung alveoli, with lung parenchymal destruction; 3) reduced fatigue time and distance; and 4) increased inflammation. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the ozone exposure (OE) model is a reliable animal model that is similar to humans because ozone overexposure is one of the etiological factors of COPD. Additionally, it only took 6 - 8 weeks, based on our previous work, to create an OE model, whereas it requires 3 - 12 months to induce the cigarette smoke model, indicating that the OE model might be a good choice for COPD research.

Introduction

It has been estimated that COPD, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, might be the third leading cause of death in the world in 2020^1,2. The potential incidence of COPD in a population over 40 years old is estimated to be 12.7% in males and 8.3% in females within the next 40 years³. No medications are currently available to reverse the progressive deterioration in COPD patients⁴. Reliable animal models of COPD not only demand the imitation of the disease pathological process but also require a short generation period. Current COPD models, including the LPS....

Protocol

NOTE: The OE model has been generated and used in previously reported research^30,31,32. All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Shanghai Jiaotong University.

1. Mice

1. House pathogen-free, 7- to 9-week-old female BALB/c mice in individual ventilated cages in an animal facility under controlled temperature (20 °C) and humidity (40 - 60%). Provide a 12 h light and 12 h dark cycle in the facility. Provide food and water ad libitum.

Results

Examples of 3D µCT images of each group are displayed in Figure 1a. The ozone-exposed mice had a significantly larger total lung volume (Figure 1a and b) and LAA% (Figure 1c) than did the air-exposed control mice. The lung volume and LAA% remained elevated after six weeks of ozone exposure^31,32

Discussion

In this study, we present a reliable method for generating a new COPD model. Compared to other models (i.e., LPS or PPE models), this OE model recapitulates the pathological process of COPD patients. Because cigarette smoke is the main hazardous material that causes COPD in human patients⁴⁰, the CS model remains the most popular COPD model^41,42. However, the CS model requires a 3- to 12-month R&D period for new drugs. Compared.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
BALB/c mice	Slac Laboratory Animal,Shanghai, China	N/A	7-to-9-week-old female BALB/c mice were used in this study.
Individual ventilated cages	Suhang, Shanghai, China	Model Number: MU64S7	The cages were used for housing mice in the animal facility.
Sealing perspex-box	Suhang, Shanghai, China	N/A	The box was used  to contain the ozone generator. Mice were exposed to ozone within the box.
Electric generator	Sander Ozoniser, Uetze-Eltze, Germany	Model 500	The device was used for generating ozone.
Ozone probe	ATi Technologies, Ashton-U-Lyne, Greater Manchester, UK	Ozone 300	The device was used for monitoring and controlling the generation of ozone.
Pelltobarbitalum natricum	Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA	P3761	Mice were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of pelltobarbitalum natricum.
Micro-Computed Tomography	GE Healthcare, London, ON, Canada	RS0800639-0075	This device was used for acquiring images of the lung.
Micro-view 2.01 ABA software	GE Healthcare, London, ON, Canada	Micro-view 2.01	This device was used for reconstruct the lung and analyze volume, LAA of the lung.
Treadmill machine	Duanshi, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China	DSPT-208	This machine was usd for fatigue test.
Body plethysmograph	eSpira™ Forced Manoeuvres System, EMMS, Edinburgh, UK	Forced Manoeuvres System	This device was used to test spirometry pulmonary function.
Ventilator	eSpira™ Forced Manoeuvres System, EMMS, Edinburgh, UK	Forced Manoeuvres System	This device was used to test spirometry pulmonary function.
Slide spinner centrifuge	Denville Scientific, Holliston, MA, USA	C1183	It was used to spin BALF cells onto slides.
Wright Staining	Hanhong, Shanghai, China	RE04000054	It was used to staining macrophages, neutrophils in the suspended BALF.
Hemocytometer	Hausser Scientific, Horsham, PA, USA	4000	It was used to count cells.
IL-1β	Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA	ab100704	They were used to test the respective factors in serum.
IL-10	Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA	ab46103	They were used to test the respective factors in serum.
TNF-α	Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA	ab100747	They were used to test the respective factors in serum.
Paraformaldehyde	Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA	P6148	The lung was inflated by 4% paraformaldehyde.
Paraffin	Hualing, Shanghai, China	56#	It was used to embed the lung.
Rotary Microtome	Leica, Wetzlar,  Hesse, Germany	RM2255	It was used for sectioning the lung.
Hgaematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining solution	Solarbio, Beijing, China	G1120	H&E staining was done for morphometric analysis.
Upright bright field microscope	Olympus, Center Valley, PA, USA	CX41	It was used to image the H&E staining slides.
Adobe Photoshop 12	Adobe, San Jose, CA, USA	Adobe Photoshop 12	It was used to count the number of alveoli on the H&E stained images.
GraphPad prism 5	Graphpad Software Inc., San Diego, CA	GraphPad prism 5	It was used for data analysis and production of figures.