Extraintestinal manifestations of cotton-top tamarin colitis

Abstract

A feature of human ulcerative colitis is the occurrence of extraintestinal manifestations of the disease: ankylosing spondylitis, peripheral arthropathy, iritis, iridoconjunctivitis, episcleritis and liver diseases (fatty liver, mild periportal chronic inflammation, and sclerosing cholangitis). More rarely, cholangiocarcinoma, hepatic abscesses, or cirrhosis are seen. The cotton-top tamarin (CTT) develops a noninfective spontaneously occurring colitis which closely resembles human ulcerative colitis clinically, endoscopically, histologically, and in response to treatment. This study evaluated liver and joint disease in CTTs with colitis. Livers from 100 cotton-top tamarins with ulcerative colitis were examined histologically at postmortem; 40 had varied pathology: steatosis (16), hepatitis (4), and abscess (4). Four animals had excessive portal fibrosis in the absence of significant inflammation and which resembled sclerosing cholangitis. Neither skeletal radiographs of 217 CTTs, including 43 that were >10 yr of age, nor histological examination of synovia from 10 knees, showed abnormalities. The findings of sclerosing cholangitis-like liver abnormalities strengthen the role of the CTT as a unique animal model of human ulcerative colitis.