Multiscale imaging of colitis in mice using confocal laser endomicroscopy, light-sheet fluorescence microscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging

• Published in: Journal of biomedical optics Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Li, Tianmeng, Hui, Hui, Hu, Chaoen, Ma, He, Yang, Xin, Tian, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States S P I E - International Society for 01.01.2019; Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers
• Subjects: Animals; Colitis; Colitis - diagnostic imaging; Colon; Colon - diagnostic imaging; Coloring Agents - pharmacology; Disease Progression; Endoscopy; Epithelial cells; Epithelium; Fiber optics; Fluorescence; Fluorescence microscopy; Imaging; Imaging techniques; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Inflammatory bowel diseases; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Laboratory animals; Laser microscopy; Lasers; Light; Light sheets; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical imaging; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microscopy; Microscopy, Confocal; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Mucosa; Pathogenesis; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Statistical analysis; Beijing China; China; Germany; confocal laser endomicroscopy; light-sheet fluorescence microscopy; magnetic resonance imaging; multimodality imaging; inflammatory bowel disease
• ISSN: 1083-3668; 1560-2281
• DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.24.1.016003

The objective of our study is to develop a multimodality approach by combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical imaging methods to assess acute murine colitis at the macro- and microscopic level. In vivo MRI is used to measure the cross-sectional areas of colons at the macroscopic level. Dual-color confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) allows in vivo examination of the fluorescently labeled epithelial cells and microvessels in the mucosa with a spatial resolution of ∼1.4  μm during ongoing endoscopy. To further validate the structural changes of the colons in three-dimensions, ex vivo light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) is applied for in-toto imaging of cleared colon sections. MRI, LSFM, and CLE findings are significantly correlated with histological scoring (p  <  0.01) and the inflammation-associated activity index (p  <  0.01). Our multimodality imaging technique permits visualization of mucosa in colitis at different scales, which can enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases.