Ambient ultrafine particles provide a strong adjuvant effect in the secondary immune response: implication for traffic-related asthma flares.

ABSTRACT: We have previously demonstrated that intranasal administration of ambient ultrafine particles (UFP) acts as an adjuvant for primary allergic sensitization to ovalbumin (OVA) in Balb/c mice. It is important to find out whether inhaled UFP exert the same effect on the secondary immune response as a way of explaining asthma flares in already-sensitized individuals due to traffic exposure near a freeway. The objective of this study is to determine whether inhalation exposure to ambient UFP near an urban freeway could enhance the secondary immune response to OVA in already-sensitized mice. Prior OVA-sensitized animals were exposed to concentrated ambient UFP at the time of secondary OVA challenge in our mobile animal laboratory in Los Angeles. OVA-specific antibody production, airway morphometr

SUBMITTER: Li N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2951067 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature