A non-invasive quantitative assay to measure murine intestinal inflammation using the neutrophil marker lactoferrin.

Intestinal inflammation in mice is most frequently assessed by histology or FACS, processes that necessitate sacrificing mice. We developed a lactoferrin ELISA for murine feces to quantify intestinal inflammation in mice with enteric infections or colitis. Levels of fecal lactoferrin, a protein secreted by activated neutrophils, were consistent with neutrophil infiltration as assessed by histology, indicating that this fecal lactoferrin ELISA is a good alternative to histology. The fecal lactoferrin ELISA provides a non-invasive, quantitative assessment of intestinal inflammation, which should facilitate longitudinal studies of the development of and/or therapies reducing intestinal inflammation in individual mice and reduce the number of mice needed for such studies.