BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airway remodelling which occurs in both proximal and distal airways. These changes are associated with development of airway hyper-responsiveness and airflow limitation. OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to analyse whether chronic inhalative allergen challenges in mice lead to morphological and physiological changes comparable with this phenotype. METHODS: For this purpose, BALB/c mice were systemically sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) followed by aerosol allergen challenges on 2 consecutive days per week for 12 weeks. RESULTS: In chronically challenged mice, tissue inflammation in proximal as well as distal airways was observed with a predominance of lymphocytes within the cellular infiltrate. In contrast, inflammation in the airway lumen decreased over time. These changes were associated by a shift in bronchoalveolar lavage-cytokine levels from IL-4, IL-5 and TNF-alpha production (during the acute phase) towards markedly increased levels of TGF-beta during the chronic phase. Goblet cell hyperplasia and subepithelial fibrosis occurred throughout the airway tree. In terms of lung function, chronically challenged mice developed persistent bronchial hyper-responsiveness and progressive airflow limitation. Six weeks after OVA aerosol discontinuation, airway inflammation still persisted although lung function was normalized. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that our model of chronic aerosol allergen challenges leads to a phenotype of experimental asthma with participation of distal airways and persistence of inflammation thereby resembling many morphological and physiological aspects of human bronchial asthma.
BACKGROUND:Bronchial asthma is characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airway remodelling which occurs in both proximal and distal airways. These changes are associated with development of airway hyper-responsiveness and airflow limitation. OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to analyse whether chronic inhalative allergen challenges in mice lead to morphological and physiological changes comparable with this phenotype. METHODS: For this purpose, BALB/c mice were systemically sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) followed by aerosol allergen challenges on 2 consecutive days per week for 12 weeks. RESULTS: In chronically challenged mice, tissue inflammation in proximal as well as distal airways was observed with a predominance of lymphocytes within the cellular infiltrate. In contrast, inflammation in the airway lumen decreased over time. These changes were associated by a shift in bronchoalveolar lavage-cytokine levels from IL-4, IL-5 and TNF-alpha production (during the acute phase) towards markedly increased levels of TGF-beta during the chronic phase. Goblet cell hyperplasia and subepithelial fibrosis occurred throughout the airway tree. In terms of lung function, chronically challenged mice developed persistent bronchial hyper-responsiveness and progressive airflow limitation. Six weeks after OVA aerosol discontinuation, airway inflammation still persisted although lung function was normalized. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that our model of chronic aerosol allergen challenges leads to a phenotype of experimental asthma with participation of distal airways and persistence of inflammation thereby resembling many morphological and physiological aspects of humanbronchial asthma.
Authors: Anne M Fitzpatrick; W Gerald Teague; Leandrea Burwell; Meredith S Brown; Lou Ann S Brown Journal: Pediatr Res Date: 2011-02 Impact factor: 3.756
Authors: Raffi Tachdjian; Clinton Mathias; Shadi Al Khatib; Paul J Bryce; Hong S Kim; Frank Blaeser; Brian D O'Connor; Danuta Rzymkiewicz; Andrew Chen; Michael J Holtzman; Gurjit K Hershey; Holger Garn; Hani Harb; Harald Renz; Hans C Oettgen; Talal A Chatila Journal: J Exp Med Date: 2009-09-21 Impact factor: 14.307
Authors: Yuran Xie; Na Hyung Kim; Venkatareddy Nadithe; Dana Schalk; Archana Thakur; Ayşe Kılıç; Lawrence G Lum; David J P Bassett; Olivia M Merkel Journal: J Control Release Date: 2016-03-19 Impact factor: 9.776