Myeloperoxidase gene deletion in dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, debilitating condition predominantly manifesting as either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. The underlying feature of IBD is chronic, uncontrolled inflammation and infiltration of leukocytes into the intestinal mucosa. Neutrophil-myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a microbicide, which produces excess amounts of hypochlorous acid during inflammation. Faecal MPO levels are associated with IBD severity, where inhibition of MPO mitigated murine experimental colitis across clinical, histopathological and immunological indices. Yet, no studies have been performed using MPO knockout models to delineate the role of MPO during experimental colitis. Using a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) model of murine colitis, we compared the course of colitis in non-treated wild type (Wt) and MPO deficient mice.