Bronchial lesions of the late asthmatic response in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice.

In this study, histopathological bronchial-bronchiolar lesions of the late asthmatic responses induced by ovalbumin in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were compared. Prominent goblet cell hyperplasia and metaplasia with mucous secretion, and desquamation of epithelial cells with severe infiltration of eosinophils and lymphocytes, were observed in the BALB/c mice; in the C57BL/6 mice, however, these changes were less severe. The reduced histopathological changes in the C57BL/6 mice were associated with a decreased infiltrate of eosinophils, decreased serum immunoglobulin-E (IgE) concentrations and increased serum interferon-gamma concentrations. The results suggest that the reduced bronchial lesions in C57BL/6 mice were due, at least in part, to suppression of the T-helper (Th)2 immune response that underlies the decreased infiltration of lymphocytes and eosinophils into the bronchial mucosa. Copyright Harcourt Publishers Ltd.