Abstract:

Objective     To investigate effects of interleukin-17(IL-17) and the IL-17 neutralization antibody on eosnophils and eotaxin-1 in asthma mice. Methods     A total of 60 Babl/c female mice were randomly divided into five groups : the healthy group(group A), the control group (group B), the asthma group (group C), the IL-17 neutralization antibody group (group D) and the IL-17 group (group E), 12 mice in each group. Mice in group B, C, D and E were sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin to establish asthma models. Pathological characteristics of lung tissues were observed using HE staining. Eotaxin-1 in mouse lung tissue homogenate was determined by ELISA. Group A was not treated with particular methods. Results     Airway inflammation in asthmatic mice was mainly characterized by eosinophil and neutrophil infiltration, which was less observed in the normal control group. Concentrations of eotaxin-1 in lung tissue homogenate in group C, D, E, B and A were in the order from high to low. The difference between the five groups was significant(P<0.05). Conclusion     Exogenous IL-17 may inhibit infiltration of eosinophils in the lung of asthma mice.

Key words: Asthma; Interleukin-17; Oxyphil cells; Mice, inbred BALB C