Cough response in specific pathogen-free guinea pig animal model

Laboratory animal science associations recommend the usage of specific pathogen-free (SPF) animals in exper-iments to achieve appropriate results. However, their non-natural microbiome might represent an obstacle in the successful translation of obtained results into clinical practice, since the microbiome contributes to the regulation of the host's physiology. Inconsistent results, even in repeated experiments in separate animal groups, irre-spective of the season or sex led us to assess the cough response of SPF animal variables and compare it to wild -type animals. The dose-response curves in citric acid and capsaicin cough challenge construction shows signif-icantly increased cough threshold in SPF animals compared to wild-type animals of both sexes. The cause of cough response alteration in SPF animals is not presently known and thus their usage in basic cough research remains questionable. The relationship between airway reflexes and the airway microbiome has never been studied hence we propose that it might be microbiome-related.

Automated summary

Laboratory animal science associations recommend the use of SPF animals in experiments to achieve accurate results, but their non-natural microbiome may hinder the translation of these results into clinical practice. Inconsistent results in cough response among SPF animals compared to wild-type animals of both sexes led to the suggestion that their usage in basic cough research is questionable. The underlying cause for the altered cough response in SPF animals remains unknown, and it is proposed that it may be microbiome-related, as the relationship between airway reflexes and the airway microbiome has not been studied.