Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytokine, cytology and IgE allergen in horses with equine asthma

The objective of this descriptive study was to evaluate the correlation between four subgroups of EA (mastocytic mild equine asthma [MEA], neutrophilic MEA, mixed MEA, and severe equine asthma [SEA]), allergen specific IgE (measured in both serum and BALF) and mRNA expression of selected genes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Serum and BALF were collected from 64 horses with a history of lower airway problems with or without poor performance. Differential cell counts from BALF were used to assign horses to one of four groups (mastocytic MEA; neutrophilic MEA, mixed MEA, and SEA). The expression of messenger RNA (mRNA) coding for IL4, IL5, IL8, IL10, TGFB, TNFA, toll-like receptor (TLR)4, IL1RA, IL1B, matrix metalloproteinase 8 (MMP8), TLR9, chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) and cluster of differentiation (CD)14 in BALF were measured using reverse transcriptase (RT) quantitative PCR (qPCR). Allergen-specific IgE was measured in serum and BALF using an allergen-specific IgE ELISA test with the screening panel: house mites, storage mites, mould and pollen. As expected, the BALF neutrophil differential count correlated with mRNA expression of MMP-8 (r = 0.611, p < 0.001), TLR-4 (r = 0.540, p < 0.001), IL-1RA (r = 0.490, p < 0.001), IL-1β (r = 0.463, p < 0.001) and IL-8 (r = 0.302, p = 0.015). Cytokine expression of IL-1β (p = 0.014), MMP8 (p = 0.028) and IL-1RA (p = 0.037) was significantly higher in the SEA gro...
Source: Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research