Development of 'in vitro' intestinal models to study the pharmacology of drugs affecting the gastrointestinal tract in normal and diseased conditions : development of a cell culture model for intestinal pharmacology

Studies investigating the effect of 5-HT receptors mediating a response in the neonatal intestine have been limited. There are evidences that the development of new neurones continues past postnatal term and this suggests that receptors expression may differ during maturation. Thus, ‘in vitro’ experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of ACh, atropine, 5-HT and its related drugs on intact intestinal segments taken from the ileum of adult and neonate rats. The application of ACh (3nM-1mM) and 5-HT (3nM-1mM) induced contractions in a concentration dependent manner in all tissues examined. The 5-HT induced contractions were only sensitive to antagonism by atropine (1μM) in segments taken from the neonates but not adults. The pre-treatment with methysergide (5-HT1/2/5-7 receptor antagonist), ritanserin (5-HT2 receptor antagonist), granisetron (5-HT3 receptor antagonist) and RS 23597 (5-HT4 receptor antagonist) at 1μM or a combination of ritanserin, granisetron, plus RS 23597 at 1μM significantly reduced or abolished contractile responses induced by 5-HT. SB 269970A (5-HT7 receptor antagonist) and WAY 100635 (5-HT1A receptor antagonist) at 1μM failed to influence contractile responses induced by 5-HT or the challenges to 5-HT receptor agonists, 5-CT (5-HT1A/7 receptor agonist) and 8-OHDPAT (5-HT1A receptor agonist) at a concentration range of 10nM-0.1mM, indicating the unlikely involvement of 5-HT1A and 5-HT7 receptors in the mediation of contractile responses in the neonatal rat ileum. Results indicate differences in cholinergic receptor involvement during postnatal maturation and suggest the involvement of 5-HT2, 5-HT3 and 5-HT4 receptors in the mediation of contractile responses to 5-HT in the neonatal rat ileum. There is a growing need to decrease animal usage in pharmacological experiments. This may be achieved by the development of ‘in vitro’ cell culture models. Thus attempts were also made to develop a cell culture model of neonatal intestine to further investigate the action of pharmacologically active agents. The isolation of individual cell populations from segments taken from the intestine of rat neonates were achieved by ligation of both ends of the intestine prior to incubation in trypsin so that a gradual dissociation could be monitored. This was supported by histological procedures, determining the time required to extract large numbers of cells from different intestinal layers. Differential adhesion and selective cytotoxicity techniques were used for further purification of intestinal smooth muscle cells (ISMC), neuronal cells, and a coculture of ISMC and neuronal cells, and these were characterised through immunostaining with antibodies to α-smooth muscle actin, α-actinin and the 5-HT3 receptor. A protocol for cryopreservation of ISMC was designed in order to protect cells against genetic instability, enhance cell availability and reduce animal usage. Results showed that cells extracted from the intestine are viable for up to 4months. ISMC functionality was analysed via the application of known pharmacologically active drugs on ISMC, which were plated onto glass and silicone elastomer substrate. The cultured ISMC responded to the application of drugs such as potassium chloride (KCl), carbachol, 5-HT and noradrenaline (NA). Large population of cocultures seeded onto silicone elastomers or cholesteric liquid crystal substrates (LC) were assessed for their ability to produce a collective response to KCl application. Attempts were made to detect any deformations of the substrate surface due to the exposure to KCl and NA. Cholesteric LC substrates seemed to be the most suitable material for investigating the cellular tensions. The availability of cell cultures allowed the development of an intestinal model of inflammation. This was achieved through the use of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation and was confirmed by assessing the levels pro-inflammatory mediators interleukin (IL-8) and nitric oxide (NO), which were significantly elevated. Reduction of IL-8 ad NO was also examined using granisetron and L-NAME and Chaga mushroom extract. Granisetron and L-NAME reduced the NO production during short incubation times. However, an elevated level of NO was observed when longer treatment times were examined. The Chaga mushroom extract caused a significant reduction in NO production in the model of inflammation. This indicates that this model may be a valuable tool for the investigation of other pro-inflammatory mediators and may contribute for the investigation of more selective drugs in the management of intestinal inflammation in neonates.