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Inflammation and cancer in germ-free vs. conventionally reared animals
Čaja, Fabián ; Vannucci, Luca Ernesto (advisor) ; Tlaskalová - Hogenová, Helena (referee) ; Smrž, Daniel (referee)
Inflammation is considered as one of the main defence mechanisms of the immune system against threats that occur in the body. When present in its acute form, minimal or no detectable subsequent damage of original affected tissue exists. The more pathological form, chronic inflammation, is associated with permanent damage of the tissue and typically a hallmark of various diseases such as ulcerative colitis or colon carcinogenesis. These two pathologies are evolving in the unique colon microenvironment, where intensive interaction between the host cells and bacteria is present. The aim of our study was to investigate the immunological (ELISA, FACS, RT-PCR) and structural (histology, confocal microscopy) changes in the colon mucosa of Wistar-AVN rats induced by dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) to produce colon colitis and by azoxymethane (AOM) to produce colon carcinogenesis. Conventional (CV) and also germ-free (GF) reared animals were used to investigate the effects of the mucosal inflammation activated by the administered inducers as well as the role of colon microbiota - as promoters of a continuous immune activation - in the modulation of immunity and collagen scaffold remodelling. Our results showed that even in the early period after the induction, both inducers produced a smouldering...
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