Table 1.
Composition of each cation selective microelectrode and concentrations of aqueous calibration solutions.
Figure 1.
Demonstration of eosinophils and major basic protein (MBP) in a chronic allergen exposed mouse.
A) Low power image of Sirius Red and hematoxylin stained coronal section of a chronic allergen exposed mouse. Numerals identify the six sampling areas, where specific 100 micron square areas were designated for eosinophil counting. The solid arrow indicates the region of the olfactory cleft where ion concentration measurements were made, in the dorsal recess near sampling area 5. The shaded arrow indicates the general dorsal to ventral transition from Olfactory (OE), Transitional (TE) to Respiratory (RE) epithelia in the mouse nose. Mucus is evident within the lumen (M). Bar = 500 µm. B) Higher power image from panel 1 showing counting regions 1 and 2. Arrows indicate Sirius Red stained eosinophils localized to Lamina Propria (LP) and Respiratory Epithelium (RE). Bar = 100 µm. C) Localization of MBP in the coronal section of a chronic allergen exposed mouse. Primary antibody is mouse anti-MBP and non-specific binding is blocked by mouse IgG incubation. Brown staining indicates MPB (arrow). Regions of Olfactory (OE), Transitional (TE) and Respiratory (RE) epithelia are indicated. Mucus is evident within the lumen (M). Bar = 50 µm. D) Higher power image from panel 3. Arrows indicate MBP localized to Lamina Propria (LP) and Respiratory Epithelium (RE). Olfactory epithelium (OE) is largely devoid of MBP. Mucus (M) does not show any significant non-specific staining. Bar = 50 µm.
Figure 2.
Comparison of eosinophil counts in chronic allergen exposed mice with controls.
Average eosinophil infiltration in control and chronic groups. There is a dramatic and significant increase in the number of eosinophils in the respiratory epithelium of the chronically inflamed mice versus the controls, while the olfactory epithelium shows only a modest, yet statistically significant proliferation. Error bars denote standard deviations.
Table 2.
In vivo ion concentrations measured in mice.
Figure 3.
Comparison of olfactory thresholds between treatment groups.
A) Boxplots demonstrate that rinsing with the solution replicating ions concentrations found in the chronically inflamed murine model caused a significant elevation in human olfactory threshold compared to rinsing with the solution replicating ion concentrations found in the control murine model (p = 0.003 versus p = 0.75, respectively). There was no significant difference between the baseline olfactory threshold measurements between the treatment groups (p = 0.23). B) The difference in olfactory threshold after rinsing with the solution replicating ion concentrations in the chronically inflamed mouse model was much greater than rinsing with the solution replicating ion concentrations in the control model (p = 0.003).