Sublingual immunotherapy in sensitized mice.

Background: Many studies have demonstrated immunologic changes induced by sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), but the definitive mechanism of action needs further investigation.

Objective: To study the immunologic response induced by SLIT in sensitized mice.

Methods: Timothy grass (Phleum pratense)-sensitized mice received SLIT for 2, 4, or 6 weeks at 3 different concentrations, including a buffer control.

Sublingual immunotherapy reduces allergic symptoms in a mouse model of rhinitis.

Background: Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is a clinically effective treatment in both pollen and house dust mite-induced rhinitis and asthma. However, the mechanisms by which this is accomplished are not clear.

Objective: The objective of the current study was to establish a mouse model of rhinitis in order to study the effect and mechanisms of SLIT.

Absence of the complement anaphylatoxin C3a receptor suppresses Th2 effector functions in a murine model of pulmonary allergy.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lung resulting in airway obstruction. The airway inflammation of asthma is strongly linked to Th2 lymphocytes and their cytokines, particularly IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13, which regulate airway hyperresponsiveness, eosinophil activation, mucus production, and IgE secretion. Historically, complement was not thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of asthma.

Cutting edge: the absence of C3 demonstrates a role for complement in Th2 effector functions in a murine model of pulmonary allergy.

Asthma is a chronic disease of the lung resulting from airway obstruction. Although the initiating causes are not entirely clear, the airway inflammation in asthma is associated with Th2 lymphocytes and their cytokines, particularly IL-4, which play a prominent role in this disease by regulating airway hyperresponsiveness, eosinophil activation, and IgE synthesis. Historically, complement was not thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of asthma.

Numerical analysis of biological clogging in two-dimensional sand box experiments.

Two-dimensional models for biological clogging and sorptive trace transport were used to study the progress of clogging in a sand box experiment. The sand box had been inoculated with a strip of bacteria and exposed to a continuous injection of nitrate and acetate. Brilliant Blue was regularly injected during the clogging experiment and digital images of the tracer movement had been converted to concentration maps using an image analysis.