Figure 1.
rCARDS toxin exacerbates inflammation associated with OVA treatment.
A-B) H&E stained lung sections demonstrating inflammation in OVA (panel A) or OVA + rCARDS toxin (panel B) 40x magnification. C) Quantification of average histological scores from OVA or OVA + rCARDS toxin mice on day 7 (p = 0.0002).
Figure 2.
rCARDS toxin exacerbates eosinophilia.
A) Cellular differentials from BALF on day 7 after exposure to CF or rCARDS toxin. Increased eosinophilia is seen at day 7 (p = 0.006). B-C) Eosinophils at peribronchiolar lesions of OVA (B) or OVA + rCARDS toxin (C) detected by immunohistochemistry with anti-MBP. Brown color depicts positive staining for eosinophil MBP. Original magnification 40x. D) Quantification of bronchiolar MBP immunohistochemistry stain using Aperio digital pathology system. E) Measurement of eotaxin-1 concentration by ELISA (n.s.). F) Differences in eotaxin-2 concentrations determined by ELISA (p<0.0001). G) H&E stain depicting eosinophil-rich granulomas 40x magnification. Red arrows point towards giant cells. H) MBP immunohistochemistry of granulomatous lesion 40x magnification. Black arrows point towards eosinophils and red arrows point towards giant cells.
Figure 3.
rCARDS toxin increases the induction of Th2 effector cytokines in OVA treated mice.
RNA was extracted from lungs of OVA- or OVA + rCARDS toxin-treated mice. qRT-PCR quantification of mRNA induction for A) IL-4 (p = 0.003) and B) IL-13 (p = 0.0316) 7 days after exposure.
Figure 4.
Chemokines CCL17 and CCL22 expression is increased in OVA-treated mice exposed to rCARDS toxin.
qRT-PCR quantification of mRNA induction for A) CCL17 and B) CCL22 (p = 0.03) 7 days after exposure. Chemokine concentrations were measured by ELISA for C) CCL17. (p = 0.005) and D) CCL22 (p = 0.002).
Figure 5.
rCARDS toxin exacerbates OVA-induced airway hyperreactivity in BALB/cJ mice.
Airway hyperreactivity was directly measured by changes in airway resistance and lung compliance through a methacholine dose curve. (A) Dynamic airway resistance (p<0.0001) and (B) Dynamic compliance (p = 0.0005) measurements were made 7 days after CARDS toxin exposure and analyzed using 2-way ANOVA.