Immunological relationship between food allergy induction and occurrence of asthma in mice / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate immunological relationship between early induction of food allergy and occurrence of later asthma in mice, and explore the pathological changes in lung tissues. Methods Thirty-seven female BALB/c mice aged 6 weeks were randomly divided into blank control group ( n = 12), food allergy group ( n = 13) and asthma group (n = 12). After being challenged by ovalbumin (OVA), the levels of serum IgE, IL-4 and INF-γ in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid ( BALF) were detected. The numbers of inflammatory cells and eosinophils ( EOS) in BALF were counted. Lung tissues were obtained for pathological sections, and thickness of bronchial wall and EOS infiltration were observed. Results The level of serum IgE and level of IL-4, ratio of IL-4/IFN-γ and number of EOS in BALF in food allergy group and asthma group were significantly higher than those in control group (P <0.05). The level of IL-4 and number of EOS in BALF in asthma group were significantly higher than those in food allergy group (P <0.05) , while there was no significant difference in serum IgE level between these two groups (P > 0.05), and levels of IFN-7 in BALF in both groups were significantly lower than that in blank control group (P<0.05). There were more EOS infiltration in lung tissues and thicker bronchial wall in food allergy group and asthma group than that in blank control group (P < 0.05), and the number of EOS in asthma group was significantly higher than that in food allergy group ( P < 0.05). Conclusion IgE-mediated immune response is involved in both food allergy and asthma mouse models. Lung immune imbalance of Thl/Th2 and inflammatory cell infiltration caused by food allergy may participate in the occurrence of later asthma.