We showed that ovalbumin exposure, with or without co-administration of cigarette smoke, results in a comparable, significant increase in IgE (Fig. 2). The heightened

response to Mch observed in OVA-exposed mice was abolished by co-exposure to CS (Fig. 3). The pattern of cytokine release was quite distinctive when CS was added to selleck chemical OVA, with increases in IFN-γ (Fig. 4), IL-10 (Fig. 5), TGF-β, GM-CSF and VEGF (Fig. 7). Peribronchovascular collagen deposition (Fig. 6) was also increased by OVA + CS exposure. These findings suggest the dissociation of pulmonary inflammation and remodeling in this experimental model. We used an experimental model of allergic pulmonary inflammation that

induced pulmonary inflammation. Evaluation of the cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid revealed the presence of a substantial increase in eosinophils, lymphocytes and neutrophils (Table 1). Additionally, we observed an increase in total IgE Kinase Inhibitor Library levels in the blood of mice that were exposed to ovalbumin, and the blood levels of IgE were not influenced by exposure to cigarette smoke. Exposure to cigarette smoke was initiated only three weeks after the first intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin because our goal was to study the influence of cigarette smoke on the pulmonary inflammation induced by exposure to an allergen and not on the sensitization to the allergen. In addition, our purpose was to expose the mice to cigarette smoke for a short period that would not induce pulmonary changes suggestive of O-methylated flavonoid chronic bronchitis or pulmonary emphysema. OVA exposure resulted in higher values of tissue elastance (Htis) compared with the control and CS groups (p < 0.05) ( Fig. 3A). This difference was not observed in airway resistance (Raw) ( Fig. 3C). This finding is not surprising; in this experimental model, inflammation predominantly occurs in the pulmonary tissue around the airways and in the adjacent blood vessels but not in the bronchial

wall ( Vieira et al., 2007 and Arantes-Costa et al., 2008). The increase in the elastance response to methacholine observed in the mice exposed to ovalbumin was observed for tissue elastance (Htis) but not for airway (Raw) or tissue (Gtis) resistance. Exposure to cigarette smoke attenuated the elastance response to methacholine in mice exposed to ovalbumin. This decrease in pulmonary elastance response may be due to the attenuation of pulmonary inflammation and/or the increase in remodeling. The relationship between eosinophilic inflammation and airway and/or pulmonary responsiveness has been well studied both in humans with asthma and in experimental animals with allergic inflammation ( Bento and Hershenson, 1998, Chen et al., 2003, Niimi et al., 2003 and Palmans et al., 2000).