Original ArticleCantharidin-induced inflammation in mouse ear model for translational research of novel anti-inflammatories
Section snippets
Animals
In accordance with previously published reports describing cantharidin-induced ear inflammation, all experiments were performed on male mice. 12, 14, 23, 24 Male CD1 mice, 8- to 10-weeks-old, were obtained from Charles River, France. Animals were kept on wire mesh floors with irradiated maize granulate bedding (Scobis Due, Mucedola s. r. l., Settimo Milanese, Italy) and maintained under standard laboratory conditions (temperature 23–24°C, relative humidity 60% ± 5%, approx. 15 air changes per
Time-course experiment
In an initial experiment, we investigated the time-course of the inflammatory response to topical cantharidin application, determined by ear swelling and histologic analysis of ear tissue (Fig 1).
In contrast to vehicle, topical administration of cantharidin at 25 μg/ear induced ear swelling, measured as an increase in ear weight, by 6 h after administration. Swelling was observable for 168 h (7 days), with peak intensity at 16 h after inflammation induction (Fig 1, A).
Since, for technical
Discussion
Cantharidin blister is well-established model of acute inflammation in humans6, 7 used for monitoring novel treatment strategies.8 Animal models of cantharidin-induced ear edema have been investigated in less detail, ear swelling being the basic experimental output.14, 24 We, therefore, investigated the molecular and cellular mechanisms of inflammation after cantharidin application to the mouse ear to correlate these characteristics with those during cantharidin blister in humans. Histologic
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This work was supported by GlaxoSmithKline Research Centre Zagreb Ltd.
Conflict of interest: At the time of study, the authors were all employees of GlaxoSmithKline Research Centre Zagreb Ltd. All authors have read the journal's policy on disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.