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AN EXTRACT OF PENICILLIUM CHRYSOGENUM INDUCES DOSE-DEPENDENT ALLERGIC ASTHMA RESPONSES IN MICE
Citation:
Chung, Y., N HaykalCoates, M. E. Viana, L B. Copeland, M. Selgrade, AND MDW Ward. AN EXTRACT OF PENICILLIUM CHRYSOGENUM INDUCES DOSE-DEPENDENT ALLERGIC ASTHMA RESPONSES IN MICE. Presented at AAAAI Meeting, San Antonio, TX, March 18-22, 2005.
Description:
Rationale: Penicillium chrysogenum, a common indoor mold, is known to have several allergens and can induce allergic responses in a mouse model of allergic penicilliosis. Our hypothesis is that soluble components of P. chrysogenum (PCE) can dose-dependently induce responses typical of allergic asthma in BALB/c mice.
Methods: Mice were exposed to 10, 20, 50, or 70 :g of PCE by involuntary aspiration four times over one month. Serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected before (Day 0), and at Day 1 and 3 following the final exposure. Lungs collected at Day 0, 1 and 3 were fixed and further processed for pathologic examination. Specific and non-specific airway responses were assessed by barometric whole-body plethysmography.
Results: PCE-exposed mice showed dose-dependent increases in: pulmonary edema and cellular damage, BALF total cell numbers including eosinophils, total and specific IgE levels in serum and BALF, BALF IL-5 levels, and severity of peribronchial and perivascular inflammatory cell infiltrates and bronchial epithelial hypertrophy. A single exposure to 70 :g of PCE resulted in edema and cellular damage but no immune response. Four exposures to Metarhizium anisopliae crude antigen (10 :g, a positive control) resulted in equal to or greater asthma-like responses than four exposures to 50 or 70 :g of PCE. Four exposures to 70 :g of PCE showed increased allergen-triggered immediate respiratory responses as well as non-specific airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine.
Conclusions: Repeated pulmonary challenge with P. chrysogenum extract induced dose-dependent allergic asthma-like responses in mice.