Mast cell number reduced in Tenapanor treated intestine
An increase in innate immune cells, particularly mast cells, has been
shown in the small intestine of Cftr-/- mice
(Norkina, Kaur, Ziemer & De Lisle, 2004). Importantly, a recent study
highlighted the mast cell-dependent immune function to a worse survival
in F50del mutant mice (Philp et al., 2018). We therefore studied mast
cell numbers and the effect of tenapanor treatment. A significant
increase of Toluidine Blue stained mast cells were seen in all examined
intestinal segments of the Cftr-/- compared toCftr+/+ mice (Figure 6a, b). Treatment with
tenapanor resulted in a significant reduction in the number of mast
cells in the jejunum and mid-distal colon ofCftr -/- mice, which were also the segments with
the highest mast cell numbers in the epithelium (outside of Peyer´s
patches). In other segments, while there was a similar trend, it did not
reach statistical significance. No differences in mast cell number were
seen between vehicle and tenapanor treatedCftr+/+ mice groups (Figure 6a,b).