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. 2011 Mar 24;2(3):e2. doi: 10.1038/ctg.2011.1

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Macroscopic assessment of anti-inflammatory therapeutic efficacy. (a) Timeline of the study. Animals were continuously exposed to 3.5-wt% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) throughout the course of the study. Oral administration of short interfering RNA (siRNA)-containing and blank nanoparticles-in-microsphere oral system (NiMOS) was performed on days 3, 5, and 7 followed by tissue harvest on days 10 and 12, as indicated by the medium and long arrows, respectively. (b) Determination of colonic length in control and test groups at both end time points of the study. Silencing NiMOS test groups showed an increase in colon length compared with animals from control groups except the healthy control mice. (c) Percent change of original body weight of Balb/c mice upon continuous exposure to DSS for development of acute colitis model for the duration of the study (12 days). Weight loss was most severe in the DSS control group as well as animals receiving blank or scrambled siRNA sequence NiMOS. The test groups consisting of cyclin D1 (CyD1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and TNF-α/CyD1 siRNA-encapsulating NiMOS exhibited significantly less change in original body weight. (d) Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the large intestine normalized to the total protein content of each sample. Administration of silencing NiMOS led to a reduction in MPO activity in all three test groups on both time points tested whereas elevated levels were measured in the control and DSS control group, as well as groups receiving blank and inactive siRNA sequence-containing NiMOS. Levels represent concentrations obtained from samples on days 10 and 12 of the study (3 and 5 days after administration). Values are expressed as mean±s.d. (n=4–5). ΔP<0.05, vs. DSS control; *P<0.05, vs. Scramble; **P<0.01, vs. Scramble; Statistical comparison was performed on data sets of DSS control vs. TNF-α, Cyclin D1, and TNF-α/Cyclin D1 combination NiMOS, and between TNF-α, Cyclin D1, and TNF-α/Cyclin D1 combination vs. Scramble NiMOS group. Only significant differences are shown.