Involvement of distal airways in a chronic model of experimental asthma.

Summary Background Bronchial asthma is characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airway remodelling which occurs in both proximal and distal airways. These changes are associated with development of airway hyper-responsiveness and airflow limitation. Objective This study was aimed to analyse whether chronic inhalative allergen challenges in mice lead to morphological and physiological changes comparable with this phenotype. Methods For this purpose, BALB/c mice were systemically sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) followed by aerosol allergen challenges on 2 consecutive days per week for 12 weeks. Results In chronically challenged mice, tissue inflammation in proximal as well as distal air…