Allergic rhinitis model with Brown Norway rat and evaluation of antiallergic drugs.

An animal disease model of allergic rhinitis was developed with Brown Norway (BN) rat, a high immunoglobulin E responder strain. BN rats were immunized with ovalbumin (OA) and made to suffer from allergic rhinitis. The severity of allergic rhinitis was assessed by determining the extent of the three kinds of markers, Evan's blue, histamine and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase, released into the nasal perfusate following the OA challenge to the nasal cavity of OA-sensitized BN rats. This experimental system was appreciated by antiallergic drugs; chlorpheniramine maleate inhibited the release of Evan's blue and elevated that of histamine, but did not affect the N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase level. Halopredone acetate inhibited the releases of all the three markers. The estimation of the released markers using allergic rhinitis brought about in BN rats was found to be a useful experimental system for evaluating the effect of drugs on allergic rhinitis.