Amelioration of Murine Experimental Colitis by Inhibition of

Mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1) is an adhesion molecule that mediates recruitment of lymphocytes into the gut mucosa. Attenuation of excessive expression of MAdCAM-1 in the inflamed mucosa could be useful for treat-ment of inflammatory bowel diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anti-MAdCAM-1 antibody has a prophylactic effect on experimental colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). Colitis was induced by orally feeding BALB/c mice 5 % DSS (mol. wt. 5000). Mice were sacrificed at intervals up to 21 days after administration to evaluate the changes over time in intestinal damage. The infiltrating lympho-cytes and their subpopulations, and the expression of cell adhesion molecules were determined by immunohistochemis-try. In another set of experiments, the attenuating effect o