Bleomycin-induced lung injury in mice investigated by MRI: model assessment for target analysis.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to follow the course of bleomycin-induced lung injury in mice and to investigate two knockout mouse lines with the aim of providing potential therapeutic targets. Bleomycin (0.25 mg/kg) was administered intranasally six times, once a day. MRI was carried out on spontaneously breathing animals up to day 70 after bleomycin. Neither cardiac nor respiratory gating was applied during image acquisition. A long lasting response following bleomycin has been detected by MRI in the lungs of male C57BL/6 mice. Histology showed that, from day 14-70 after bleomycin, fibrosis was the predominant component of the injury. Female C57BL/6 mice displayed a smaller response than males. Bleomycin-induced injury was significantly more pronounced in C57BL/6 than in Balb/C mice. MRI and histology demonstrated a protection against bleomycin insult in female heterozygous and male homozygous cancer Osaka thyroid kinase knockout animals. In contrast, no protection was seen in cadherin-11 knockout animals. In summary, MRI can quantify, in spontaneously breathing mice, bleomycin-induced lung injury. With the ability for repetitive measurements in the same animal, the technique is attractive for in vivo target analysis and compound profiling in this murine model.