title: Short-term smoke exposure attenuates ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation in allergic mice.
abstract: Little is known about effects of smoking on airway inflammation in asthma. We tested the hypothesis that smoking enhances established airway inflammation in a mouse model of allergic asthma. C57Bl/6j mice were sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) and challenged with OVA (OVA-mice) or sham-sensitized to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and challenged with PBS aerosols (PBS-mice) for 7 wk. At 4 wk, mice were additionally exposed to air (nonsmoking controls) or mainstream smoke for 3 wk. Using whole body plethysmography, we found OVA-induced bronchoconstriction to be significantly inhibited in smoking OVA-mice as compared with nonsmoking OVA-mice (1 +/- 2% increase versus 22 +/- 6% increase in enhanced pause, respectively). Smoking did not change airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to methacholine in PBS-mice, yet significantly attenuated AHR in OVA-mice 24 h after OVA challenge as compared with nonsmoking mice. This was accompanied by reduced eosinophil numbers in lung lavage fluid and tissue of smoking OVA-mice compared with nonsmoking OVA-mice. In contrast to our hypothesis, short-term smoking reduced responsiveness to OVA and methacholine in OVA-mice and decreased airway inflammation when compared with nonsmoking mice. This effect of smoking may be different for long-term smoking, in which remodeling effects of smoking can be expected to interrelate with remodeling changes caused by asthmatic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands. B.N.Melgert@path.azg.nl
authors.forename: Barbro N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Melgert
authors.forename: Dirkje S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Postma
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Geerlings
authors.forename: Marjan A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Luinge
authors.forename: Pieter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Klok
authors.forename: Barry W A
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: van der Strate
authors.forename: Huib A M
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Kerstjens
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Timens
authors.forename: Machteld N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Hylkema
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000393:Air Pollutants; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D016084:Bronchoconstriction / Q000502:physiology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology*; D010993:Plethysmography, Whole Body; D012906:Smoke; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D016207:Cytokines; D012906:Smoke; D010047:Ovalbumin