T lymphocytes have a central regulatory role in the pathogenesis of asthma. We delineated the participation of lymphocytes in the acute allergic and chronic tolerant stages of a murine model of asthma by characterizing the various subsets of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage and lung tissue associated with these responses. Acute (10-day) aerosol challenge of immunized C57BL/6J mice with ovalbumin resulted in airway eosinophilia , histological evidence of peribronchial and perivascular airway inflammation, clusters of B cells and TCR␥␦ cells in lung tissue, increased serum IgE levels , and airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine. In mice subjected to chronic (6-week) aerosol challenge with ovalbumin, airway inflammation and serum IgE levels were significantly attenuated and airway hyperresponsiveness was absent. The marked increases in lung B and T cell populations seen in the acute stage were also significantly reduced in the chronic stage of this model. Thus , acute ovalbumin challenge resulted in airway sensitization characteristic of asthma, whereas chronic ovalbumin challenge elicited a suppressed or tolerant state. The transition from antigenic sensitization to tolerance was accompanied by shifts in lymphocyte profiles in the lung and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Asthma is the most common chronic illness in developed countries. Our current understanding of the pathophysiology of allergic asthma is that it occurs from a breakdown of the normal tolerance to inhaled antigens, as a result of complex interactions between host and environmental factors. Emerging evidence suggests that the development of clinical sensitivity versus normal tolerance to inhaled antigens involves the establishment of a dominant population of CD4 ϩ T lymphocytes that are either classified as Th2-like (sensitization) or Th1-like (tolerance).1 Th2 responses are characterized by secretion of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13, which induce the production of IgE by B cells, 2-5 and IL-5, which regulates the growth, differentiation, and activation of eosinophils.6 Conversely, Th1 responses are characterized by secretion of IL-2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-␤, and interferon (IFN)-␥. IFN-␥ has been shown to stimulate low-level IgG production and to potently inhibit IL-4-mediated IgE responses both in vivo and in vitro.7 The mechanisms that control CD4 ϩ T lymphocyte polarization into either Th1 or Th2 phenotypes are incompletely understood but appear to involve genetic predispositions, local factors such as existing cytokine concentrations and inflammation, and antigenic factors such as the potency, dose, and duration of exposure of the eliciting antigen. In susceptible individuals, antigen sensitization results in specific local and systemic IgE production and airway eosinophilia, which in turn induce the airway inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness, and reversible airway obstruction characteristic of asthma.The factors influencing antigen sensitization or tolerance can be better studied in mice, given their well defined...

The role of lymphocytes bearing alphabeta or gammadelta T-cell receptors (TCRs) was assessed during the acute allergic response in a mouse model of asthma. The inflammatory immune response to ovalbumin (OVA) was characterized in wild-type C57BL/6J mice and congenic TCRbeta(-/-) and TCRdelta(-/-) mice by evaluation of airway eosinophilia, histopathology, serum immunoglobulin (Ig)E levels, and in vivo airway responsiveness to methacholine. OVA-challenged wild-type mice demonstrated marked pulmonary inflammation, evidenced by airway eosinophilia (68 +/- 7 x 10(4) cells), peribronchial lympho-plasmocytic infiltration, and elevated serum IgE (4.9 +/- 0.6 microg/ml). These responses were markedly attenuated in TCRdelta(-/-) animals (5.0 +/- 1.0 x 10(4) eosinophils and 1.6 +/- 0. 3 microg/ml IgE) and were completely absent in TCRbeta(-/-) mice (< 1 x 10(3) eosinophils and 0.38 +/- 0.21 microg/ml IgE). Similar results were observed in mice treated with anti-TCRgammadelta or anti-TCRalphabeta monoclonal antibodies. Airway responsiveness to aerosolized methacholine was also reduced in challenged TCRdelta(-/-) animals relative to challenged wild-type mice. These results demonstrate that acute allergic airway responses are dependent upon intact TCRalphabeta and TCRgammadelta lymphocyte function and that TCRgammadelta cells promote acute airway sensitization.

Concomitant infection of murine CMV (MCMV), an opportunistic respiratory pathogen, altered Th1/Th2 cytokine expression, decreased bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid eosinophilia, and increased mucus production in a murine model of OVA-induced allergic airway disease. Although no change in the total number of leukocytes infiltrating the lung was observed between challenged and MCMV/challenged mice, the cellular profile differed dramatically. After 10 days of OVA-aerosol challenge, eosinophils comprised 64% of the total leukocyte population in BAL fluid from challenged mice compared with 11% in MCMV/challenged mice. Lymphocytes increased from 11% in challenged mice to 30% in MCMV/challenged mice, and this increase corresponded with an increase in the ratio of CD8+ to CD4+TCRαβ lymphocytes. The decline in BAL fluid eosinophilia was associated with a change in local Th1/Th2 cytokine profiles. Enhanced levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 were detected in lung tissue from challenged mice by RNase protection assays. In contrast, MCMV/challenged mice transiently expressed elevated levels of IFN-γ and IL-10 mRNAs, as well as decreased levels of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 mRNAs. Elevated levels of IFN-γ and reduced levels of IL-5 were also demonstrated in BAL fluid from MCMV/challenged mice. Histological evaluation of lung sections revealed extensive mucus plugging and epithelial cell hypertrophy/hyperplasia only in MCMV/challenged mice. Interestingly, the development of airway hyperresponsiveness was observed in challenged mice, not MCMV/challenged mice. Thus, MCMV infection can modulate allergic airway inflammation, and these findings suggest that enhanced mucus production may occur independently of BAL fluid eosinophilia.

Postmortem pulmonary gas trapping was investigated as an index of in vivo airway obstruction following methacholine inhalation in four different rodent species. Male guinea pigs (Hartley), hamsters (golden Syrian), mice (A/J, BALB/c, and ICR), and rats (Brown-Norway, Fischer 344, Lewis, and Sprague-Dawley) were exposed to aerosols of methacholine or sodium chloride. Maximum excised lung gas volumes (ELGV) of methacholine-exposed guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, and rats were 2.3-8.7 times those of sodium chloride-treated animals. Mean ELGV values of sodium chloride-exposed animals ranged from 1.50 +/- 0.20 ml/kg for guinea pigs to 2.75 +/- 0.20 ml/kg for Brown-Norway rats. Although all species responded to methacholine, guinea pigs were the most responsive, with approximately 1.6 microgram/kg of inhaled methacholine needed to increase ELGV to 200% of control. Compared with guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, and rats were 11- to 1,395-fold less responsive. Although hamsters, mice, and rats are less sensitive than guinea pigs to the airway-obstructive effects of methacholine, pulmonary gas trapping appears useful as a measure of airway responses in these species.

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SummaryRegular physical activity provokes numerous adaptations in the gastrointestinal tract and liver. It has been suggested that these changes may alter the pharmacokinetics of drugs in humans. We addressed this suggestion by measuring paracetamol pharmacokinetics in a group of healthy young males chosen to represent the widest possible range of habitual physical activity and food intake. Daily caloric intake in the 19 men, obtained from 3-day dietary records, ranged from 1680 to 5110 kcal (21 to 66 kcal/kg). Each volunteer ingested paracetamol 1000mg in the fasted, resting state in the morning; antecubital venous blood samples were analysed for the parent compound and its glucuronide and sulfate conjugates by high-performance liquid chromatography for 6 subsequent hours. We found no evidence that paracetamol pharmacokinetics vary with physical activity or with caloric intake: (a) for the parent compound, there was no correlation in maximum blood concentrations, half-life, total clearance, or area under the curve with individual caloric intake, and (b) when volunteers were divided a priori into more active and less active groups, or a posteriori into higher and lower calorie consumers (a 70% difference in daily caloric intake), these groups had identical plasma disappearance curves for paracetamol itself and for both of its metabolites. We conclude that the enormous variation among humans in long term physical activity and food intake fails to alter any aspect of the appearance or disappearance of paracetamol from blood.Recent studies in humans and animals provide evidence that regular physical activity, perhaps via its associated hyperphagia, provokes increases in intestinal transit rates, hepatic biotransformation enzyme content, bile flow rate, and biliary clearance of certain test substances.[l-3] These latter studies suggest that habitual physical activity in humans could alter the pharmacokinetics of drugs. Past infonnation in this regard has been equivocalJ4] Some, but not all, studies of the relationship of physical activIty to 14C-aminopyrine clearance suggest that habitually elevated physical activity enhances total clearance of this compoundJ5,6] Similarly, there is contradictory evidence regarding the influence of regular exercise on hexobarbital sleeping time in ratsJ3,7] Recent data suggest that 6 weeks of habitual voluntary exercise in rats increases the total and biliary clearances of paracetamol and enhances the biliary elimination of the paracetamol-sulfate con-