Airway subepithelial fibrosis in a murine model of atopic asthma: suppression by dexamethasone or anti-interleukin-5 antibody.

Fibrosis in the reticular layer beneath the epithelial basement membrane is a feature of airway remodeling in human asthma. We previously reported the presence of subepithelial fibrosis (SEF) in a disease model of atopic asthma in which mice were sensitized and intratracheally challenged with ovalbumin (OVA) (Blyth and colleagues, Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 1996;14:425-438). Here, we describe further studies to quantify the degree of SEF after its induction by repeated exposure of the airways to allergen. The amount of subepithelial reticulin in the airways of animals challenged three times with 80 microg OVA was typically increased 1. 4-fold. The increased amount of reticulin showed no reduction after a 50-d period after the third allergen challenge. A reduction in SEF was achieved by daily treatment with dexamethasone (DEX) for 8 d during the allergen challenge period, or by treatment with anti-interleukin-5 antibody (TRFK5) at the time of allergen challenge. Postchallenge treatment with DEX for 15 d resulted in significant resolution of previously established SEF. Severe nonallergic inflammation during repeated exposure of airways to lipopolysaccharide did not induce SEF. The results indicate that development of SEF is associated with eosinophil infiltration into airways, and may occur only when the inflammatory stimulus is allergic in nature.

Induction, duration, and resolution of airway goblet cell hyperplasia in a murine model of atopic asthma: effect of concurrent infection with respiratory syncytial virus and response to dexamethasone.

We recently described a murine model of atopic asthma in which a marked, extensive hyperplasia of airway goblet cells is induced by repeated challenge of ovalbumin (OA)-sensitized mice with intratracheally administered allergen (Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 1996;14:425-438). We report here the time course of the duration of this feature and of its spontaneous resolution in the absence of further allergen exposure. Induction of severe neutrophilic inflammation in the airways by repeated intratracheal administration of lipopolysaccharide failed to induce goblet cell hyperplasia (GCH) to as great a degree as that induced by allergen, suggesting that nonallergic inflammation is a relatively poor inducer of this phenotype change in mice. When a "subclinical" infection of the lungs with the human A2 strain of respiratory syncytial virus was superimposed on the model of atopic asthma, recruitment of monocytes and lymphocytes to the airways was enhanced and a discharge of goblet cell mucin contents was observed. This may partly explain the respiratory difficulty that typifies virally induced exacerbations of asthma in humans. Daily systemic treatment of sensitized mice with dexamethasone during the period of allergen challenge produced a dose-related suppression of developing GCH, while similar treatment during the period following the establishment of extensive hyperplasia induced an accelerated resolution toward a normal epithelial phenotype. These results confirm and extend the relevance of this model as a representation of the human disease.

Lung inflammation and epithelial changes in a murine model of atopic asthma.

A murine model of allergen-induced airway inflammation and epithelial phenotypic change, and the time-courses of these events, are described. Mice were sensitized to ovalbumin using an adjuvant-free protocol, and challenged by multiple intratracheal instillations of ovalbumin by a non-surgical technique. Many of the characteristic features of human atopic asthma were seen in the mice. A marked eosinophilic infiltration of lung tissue and airways followed allergen challenge, and its severity increased with each challenge, as did the number of eosinophils in the blood. Lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes also invaded the lungs. Airway macrophages showed signs of activation, their appearance resembling those recovered from antigen-challenged human asthmatic airways. The airway epithelium was thickened and displayed a marked goblet cell hyperplasia in terminal bronchioles and larger airways. After repeated challenges, the reticular layer beneath the basement membrane of the airway epithelium showed fibrosis, reproducing a commonly observed histologic feature of human asthma. Goblet cell hyperplasia began to appear before eosinophils or lymphocytes had migrated across the airway epithelium, and persisted for at least 11 days after the third intratracheal challenge with ovalbumin, despite the number of inflammatory cells in the lungs and airways having decreased to near-normal levels by 4 days. Plugs of mucus occluded some of the airways. These results indicate that some of the phenotypic changes in airway epithelium that follow an allergic response in the lung can be initiated before the migration of eosinophils or lymphocytes across the epithelial layer.

Growth characteristics and Ha-ras mutations of cell cultures isolated from chemically induced mouse liver tumours.

Cells have been isolated from liver tumours that have arisen in control C3H/He mice, in mice given 10 micrograms diethylnitrosamine (DEN) during the neonatal period or in mice given a diet containing phenobarbitone (PB) to allow a daily intake of 85 mg/kg/day. The cells were grown to the 8 degrees subculture when their growth characteristics were investigated in monolayer culture and following suspension in soft agar and on transplantation into nude mice. In addition, DNA was isolated from the cultures and from tumours that grew in nude mice and analysed for mutations at codon 61 of the Ha-ras oncogene. All cells derived from DEN-induced hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) demonstrated a lack of density inhibition of growth in monolayer culture, grew in soft agar and formed tumours in nude mice with an average mean latency of 29 days. Three of the seven lines showed mutations in Ha-ras: two were CAA-->AAA transversions and one showed a CAA-->CTA transversion. In contrast, cells isolated from eosinophilic nodules in mice given PB showed inhibition of growth at confluence, did not grow in soft agar and only four of eight formed tumours in nude mice with a mean average latent period of 181 days. Cells grown from HCC in mice given PB showed a lack of density inhibition of growth, however, they did not grow in soft agar nor did they form tumours in nude mice. A single spontaneous HCC from a control mouse showed a similar growth pattern to HCC cells isolated from mice given PB. Cells from a basophilic nodule, taken from a control untreated mouse grew vigorously in culture and in soft agar and formed tumours in nude mice with a latency of 6 days. None of the cells isolated from control mice or from mice given PB showed evidence of mutations at codon 61 of Ha-ras. These data confirm that there are fundamental differences in the biology of cells grown from tumours that develop in mice under different treatment regimes. These studies also demonstrate the utility of cell culture and molecular biology in addressing the fundamental mechanism of mouse hepatic neoplasia.