Research Progress in Animal Models of Ulcerative Colitis

Abstract

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. Its pathogenesis has not been fully revealed. Moreover, the lack of effective and safe treatment strategies is an obstacle for UC treatment currently. Animal models are essential tools in disease research. Therefore, the establishment of animal models with pathological manifestations similar to human UC is conducive to the full study of this disease. In this review, we reviewed the research progress of animal models of UC, and found that chemical induction is the most commonly used method for modeling UC. Based on the development of genomics technology, gene editing or knockout-induced spontaneous colitis is a vital direction for animal models research in the future. In addition, the indexes for evaluating the modeling results of UC animal models need to be further explored.

Keywords

• ulcerative colitis
• animal model
• pathogenesis
• gene knockout
• evaluation indicators