【Animal modeling】-Comparison of BALB/c mice model of bronchial asthma induced by different doses of ovalbumin

  Objective: To investigate the effects of different doses of ovalbumin on serum IgE, IL-4, IFNγ levels, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid eosinophil counts and lung histopathology in BALB/c mice model of bronchial asthma, and to preliminarily determine the appropriate OVA Modeling dose.

  Methods: BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal group, model group 1 (OVA 20 μg), model group 2 (OVA 50 μg), model group 3 (OVA 100 μg), and dexamethasone acetate group (OVA 100 μg). The mice in the groups were sensitized by intraperitoneal injection of corresponding doses of OVA, and stimulated by nebulization of 1% OVA to establish a model of bronchial asthma. The contents of serum IgE, IL-4, and IFN-γ were detected by ELISA, and the number of EOS in BALF was calculated by Wright's staining. The pathological changes of lung tissue were observed by HE staining.

  Results: Compared with the normal group, serum IgE, IL-4, IFN-γ and EOS in BALF of mice in each group were significantly increased (P<0.05), and inflammatory cell infiltration, bronchial epithelial cell degeneration, The pathological changes such as bronchial smooth muscle cell hyperplasia were more obvious in the OVA50μg group in terms of IgE, IL-4, IFN-γ content and pathological changes in lung tissue.

  Conclusion: Three doses of OVA can successfully induce asthma in BALB/c mice. In general, the asthma model induced by 50 μg OVA is more obvious. It is recommended as an appropriate model dose for asthma model in BALB/c mice.