Concurrent dual allergen exposure and its effects on airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation and remodeling in mice.

Experimental mouse models of asthma have broadened our understanding of the mechanisms behind allergen-induced asthma. Typically, mouse models of allergic asthma explore responses to a single allergen; however, patients with asthma are frequently exposed to, and tend to be allergic to, more than one allergen. The aim of the current study was to develop a new and more relevant mouse model of asthma by measuring the functional, inflammatory and structural consequences of chronic exposure to a combination of two different allergens, ovalbumin (OVA) and house dust mite (HDM), in comparison with either allergen alone.

Comment on "Session V: estimating likelihood and exposure", by Zaida Lentini, Environ. Biosafety Res. 5 (2006) 193-195.

We comment on Zaida Lentini's summary of Session V (titled "Estimating Likelihood and Exposure") of the 9th International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms. We provide an explanation of the drawbacks of using empirical pollen dispersion models, based largely on the general representativeness of the data used to generate the empirical models. We exemplify the drawbacks by highlighting the limited data used to develop the empirical model of Gustafson (presented in the same Symposium session).