Identification of Urinary Biomarkers of Colon Inflammation in IL10-/-Mice Using Short-Column LCMS Metabolomics

The interleukin-10-deficient mouse develops colon inflammation in response to normal intestinal microflora and has been used as a model of Crohn’s disease.

Three differential metabolites were identified by this study as xanthurenic acid and as the glucuronides of xanthurenic acid and of α-CEHC (2,5,7,8- tetramethyl-2-(2 -carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxychroman). The significance of several differential metabolites as potential biomarkers of colon inflammation was evaluated in an experiment which compared metabolite concentrations in IL10−/− and WT mice housed, either under conventional conditions and dosed with intestinal microflora, or maintained under specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions. Concentrations of xanthurenic acid, α-CEHC glucuronide, and an unidentified metabolite m/z 495−/497+ were associated with the degree of inflammation in IL10−/− mice and may prove useful as biomarkers of colon inflammation.

The full article is published online within the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology and is free to access.