Address of Corresponding Author

Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2005;138:51-58 (DOI: 10.1159/000087357)

  Key Words

• Cytokines
• Allergic airway inflammation
• Maturation

  Abstract

Background: The pathophysiology of infantile asthma may differ from that in older children or in adults, partly because of the different immune response depending upon maturation. In adult mice, the sensitizing dose of antigen is known to be critical to the polarized development of helper T cell subsets and allergic airway inflammation. We wanted to know the characteristics of allergic airway inflammation of infantile asthma by developing a murine model. Methods: BALB/C mice at different stages of maturation (juvenile: 3 days after birth; adult: 8 weeks of age) were sensitized with 10 or 1,000 µg ovalbumin (OVA) or vehicle. The animals were then challenged with aerosolized OVA or saline once a day during 6 consecutive days. After the final challenge, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), histological changes in the airways and immunological status were examined. Results: In both juvenile and adult animals, sensitization with 10 µg OVA induced the T helper 2 response (elevated IL-4 and decreased IFN- levels). BHR, airway eosinophilia, the inflammatory cell infiltration, goblet cell metaplasia (GCM), and IgE antibody production were more prominent in animals given this dose than 1,000 µg OVA. Among these responses, GCM as well as BALF IL-4, and BHR were comparable between juvenile and adult animals, whereas other parameters were lower in juvenile animals, especially in those given 1,000 µg OVA. Conclusion: GCM and, consequently, airway mucus hypersecretion may be an important component of allergic airway inflammation in infantile asthma.

Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Correspondence to: Kenichi Tokuyama, MD
Department of Pediatrics, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine
3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511 (Japan)
Tel. +81 27 220 8205, Fax +81 27 220 8215
E-Mail tokuyama@showa.gunma-u.ac.jp

  Article Information

Received: August 30, 2004
Accepted after revision: March 29, 2005
Published online: August 9, 2005
Number of Print Pages : 8
Number of Figures : 5, Number of Tables : 2, Number of References : 24