Column for Allergic Diseases
LI Jia-ying, ZHENG Yao-ming, ZHOU Chun, CHEN Bai-wen, LI Hua-bin, LOU Hong-fei
Objective To establish and evaluate a house dust mite (HDM)-specific subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (AIT) mouse model for allergic rhinitis (AR).Methods Thirty female C57 mice were randomly divided into control group, AR group and AIT group, with 10 mice in each group. In AR group, mice were sensitized with HDM, followed by nasal challenge with HDM. Mice in the AIT group received HDM sensitization,followed by subcutaneous injection of HDM on the lateral back as immunotherapy, and then received nasal challenge with HDM. Body weight, nasal symptoms, inflammation status of nasal and lung tissue, the number of total cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes and macrophages in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), serum HDM-sIgE, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-γ levels among three groups of mice were measured and compared.Results Compared with control group, AR group showed significant weight loss, worsening of nasal scratching and sneezing symptoms, thickening of nasal mucosa, significant increase in nasal goblet cells and eosinophils, obvious increase in pulmonary inflammatory cells and goblet cells, and significant increase in total cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, and lymphocytes in BALF (all P<0.05). Serum HDM-sIgE, IL4, IL5, IL6, IL10 AND IFN-γ levels were significantly elevated (all P<0.05). Moreover, compared with AR group, AIT group showed significant weight gain, relief of AR symptoms, reduction in nasal mucosa thickness, decrease in nasal goblet cells and eosinophils, significant reduction in pulmonary inflammatory cell infiltration and goblet cell metaplasia, significant reduction in total cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, and lymphocytes in BALF, significant decrease in serum IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and IL-10, and significantly elevated serum IFN-γ level (all P<0.05).Conclusion Establishment of the mouse model for HDM-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy in AR was successful, it can be used as an efficient, convenient and feasible animal model to further explore immunotherapy.