Hampton Anna L, Hish Gerald A, Aslam Muhammad N, Rothman Edward D, Bergin Ingrid L, Patterson Kathleen A, Naik Madhav, Paruchuri Tejaswi, Varani James, Rush Howard G
Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2012;51(5):586-93.
Ulcerative dermatitis (UD) is a common, spontaneous condition in mice with a C57BL/6 background. Although initial lesions may be mild, UD is a progressive disease that often results in ulcerations or debilitating fibrotic contractures. In addition, lesions typically are unresponsive to treatment. Euthanasia is often warranted in severe cases, thereby affecting study outcomes through the loss of research subjects. Because the clinical assessment of UD can be subjective, a quantitative scoring method and documentation of the likely time-frame of progression may be helpful in predicting when animals that develop dermatitis should be removed from a study. Such a system may also be helpful in quantitatively assessing success of various treatment strategies and be valuable to clinical laboratory animal veterinarians. In this 1.5-y, prospective cohort study, we followed 200 mice to monitor the development and course of UD. Mice were examined every 2 wk. A clinical sign (alopecia, pruritus, or peripheral lymphadenopathy) was not identified that predicted development of UD lesions in the subsequent 2-wk period. Once UD developed, pruritus, the character of the lesion (single or multiple crust, coalescing crust, erosion, or ulceration), and the size of the lesion were the only parameters that changed (increased) over the course of the disease. Pruritus was a factor in the rapid progression of UD lesions. We used these findings to develop a quantitative scoring system for the severity of UD. This enhanced understanding of the progression of UD and the quantitative scoring system will enhance the monitoring of UD.
溃疡性皮炎（UD）是C57BL/6背景小鼠中常见的自发病症。尽管初始病变可能较轻，但UD是一种进行性疾病，常导致溃疡或使人衰弱的纤维性挛缩。此外，病变通常对治疗无反应。在严重情况下通常需要实施安乐死，从而因研究对象的损失而影响研究结果。由于UD的临床评估可能具有主观性，一种定量评分方法以及对可能的病程时间框架的记录，可能有助于预测患有皮炎的动物何时应从研究中剔除。这样的系统也可能有助于定量评估各种治疗策略的成效，并且对临床实验动物兽医具有重要价值。在这项为期1.5年的前瞻性队列研究中，我们追踪了200只小鼠以监测UD的发生和病程。每2周对小鼠进行一次检查。未发现能预测随后2周内UD病变发生的临床体征（脱毛、瘙痒或外周淋巴结病）。一旦发生UD，瘙痒、病变特征（单个或多个结痂、融合性结痂、糜烂或溃疡）以及病变大小是疾病过程中仅有的发生变化（增加）的参数。瘙痒是UD病变快速进展的一个因素。我们利用这些发现开发了一种UD严重程度的定量评分系统。对UD病程的这种深入理解以及定量评分系统将加强对UD的监测。
