Study of a BALB/c Mouse Model for Allergic Asthma

Different Phenotypes in Asthma: Clinical Findings and Experimental Animal Models

Asthma is a respiratory allergic disease presenting a high prevalence worldwide, and it is responsible for several complications throughout life, including death. Fortunately, asthma is no longer recognized as a unique manifestation but as a very heterogenic manifestation. Its phenotypes and endotypes are known, respectively, as pathologic and molecular features that might not be directly associated with each other. The increasing number of studies covering this issue has brought significant insights and knowledge that are constantly expanding. In this review, we intended to summarize this new information obtained from clinical studies, which not only allowed for the creation of patient clusters by means of personalized medicine and a deeper molecular evaluation, but also created a connection with data obtained from experimental models, especially murine models. We gathered information regarding sensitization and trigger and emphasizing the most relevant phenotypes and endotypes, such as Th2-^high asthma and Th2-^low asthma, which included smoking and obesity-related asthma and mixed and paucigranulocytic asthma, not only in physiopathology and the clinic but also in how these phenotypes can be determined with relative similarity using murine models. We also further investigated how clinical studies have been treating patients using newly developed drugs focusing on specific biomarkers that are more relevant according to the patient's clinical manifestation of the disease.

Unraveling the therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells in asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with airway hyper-responsiveness, chronic inflammatory response, and excessive structural remodeling. The current therapeutic strategies in asthmatic patients are based on controlling the activity of type 2 T helper lymphocytes in the pulmonary tissue. However, most of the available therapies are symptomatic and expensive and with diverse side outcomes in which the interruption of these modalities contributes to the relapse of asthmatic symptoms. Up to date, different reports highlighted the advantages and beneficial outcomes regarding the transplantation of different stem cell sources, and relevant products from for the diseases' alleviation and restoration of injured sites. However, efforts to better understand by which these cells elicit therapeutic effects are already underway. The precise understanding of these mechanisms will help us to translate stem cells into the clinical setting. In this review article, we described current knowledge and future perspectives related to the therapeutic application of stem cell-based therapy in animal models of asthma, with emphasis on the underlying therapeutic mechanisms.

Investigation of the Healing Effects of Afyonkarahisar Region Hot Spring Waters' Inhalation on Experimentally Induced Asthma in Mice

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways observed exclusively in humans and sometimes animals. In this study, 40 Albino rats of the same age were used. After 6 weeks of ovalbumin-induced asthma in all animals, 40 rats were randomly divided into two groups as control and study groups for a 21-day treatment period. At the treatment stage, the control group animals were treated with normal tap water, while the study group animals were treated with hot spring water. Clinical, hematological, blood biochemical and histopathological examinations were performed before starting the study, after asthma formation, and on days of 1st, 7th, 14th and 21st after treatment. Total leukocyte, neutrophil, monocyte, AST, ALT, GGT, total cholesterol, triglyceride levels were significantly decreased (p <0.05) in the study group animals which treated with hot spring water. These normalization changes were confirmed by histopathological findings. Consequently, it was concluded that hot spring water of Afyonkarahisar Region provide a very successful treatment in asthma, and it should be considered as a supportive option for the treatment of asthma.