Comparative transcriptomics in human COPD reveals dysregulated genes uniquely expressed in ferrets.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease with poor treatment options. However, most mouse models of COPD produce a primarily emphysematous disease not recapitulating clinically meaningful COPD features like chronic bronchitis.

Methods: Wild-type ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) were divided randomly into two groups: whole body cigarette smoke exposure and air controls.

Evaluation of a novel CFTR potentiator in COPD ferrets with acquired CFTR dysfunction.

Rationale: The majority of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients have chronic bronchitis, for which specific therapies are unavailable. Acquired cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) dysfunction is observed in chronic bronchitis, but has not been proven in a controlled animal model with airway disease. Furthermore, the potential of CFTR as a therapeutic target has not been tested given limitations to rodent models of COPD.

Airway remodeling in ferrets with cigarette smoke-induced COPD using µCT imaging.

Structural changes to airway morphology, such as increased bronchial wall thickness (BWT) and airway wall area, are cardinal features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Ferrets are a recently established animal model uniquely exhibiting similar clinical and pathological characteristics of COPD as humans, including chronic bronchitis. Our objective was to develop a microcomputed tomography (µCT) method for evaluating structural changes to the airways in ferrets and assess whether the effects of smoking induce changes consistent with chronic bronchitis in humans.

Excess mucus viscosity and airway dehydration impact COPD airway clearance.

The mechanisms by which cigarette smoking impairs airway mucus clearance are not well understood. We recently established a ferret model of cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibiting chronic bronchitis. We investigated the effects of cigarette smoke on mucociliary transport (MCT).

A ferret model of COPD-related chronic bronchitis.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the US. The majority of COPD patients have symptoms of chronic bronchitis, which lacks specific therapies. A major impediment to therapeutic development has been the absence of animal models that recapitulate key clinical and pathologic features of human disease.

Regional citrate anticoagulation for hemorrhage experiments in rats.

Introduction: Hemorrhage alone without concomitant trauma often results in a hypercoagulable state that makes it difficult to prevent clotting within the blood withdrawal catheters. Although systemic administration of heparin can ameliorate this problem, heparin use has many additional actions that may confound interpretation of the hemorrhage experiments. The problem can be resolved by the use of a dual lumen catheter that anticoagulates only the blood within the withdrawal circuit.