Animal Models of Allergic Diseases

Probiotics and Allergic Diseases — Usefulness of Animal Models — From Strains Selection to Mechanistic Studies

Murine models of airway fungal exposure and allergic sensitization.

Inhalation of common indoor filamentous fungi has been associated with the induction or exacerbation of allergic respiratory disease. The understanding of fungal inhalation and allergic sensitization has significantly advanced with the use of small animal models, especially mouse models. Numerous studies have employed different animal exposure and sensitization techniques, each with inherent ad...

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells: new players in human allergic diseases.

Allergic diseases are characterized by tissue eosinophilia, mucus secretion, IgE production, and activation of mast cells and TH2 cells. Production of TH2 cytokines including IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 has mainly been attributed to CD4+T(H)2 cells. However, the recent discovery of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) in humans and findings from experimental disease models have challenged conv...

Animal Models Of Liver Cirrhosis And Fibrosis

Animal modeling is a crucial necessity in clinical studies of liver diseases. Authenticity of the data which are produced using this tool under different conditions and accuracy of the analyses and assessments which would be based on such data sets is completely dependent on the adoption of a standardized methodology for analyzes and assessment of these data sets. Cirrhosis and Fibrosis are amo...

Cytokine-based immunotherapy of allergic disease.

Human immediate hypersensitivity diseases are strongly associated with an excessive type 2 response to normally innocuous environmental antigens, and are a growing health care concern in developed nations. Commonly prescribed treatments provide effective symptomatic relief, but are unable to consistently ameliorate the underlying cause of allergic disease: the excessive generation of allergen-s...

Gene therapy for allergic airway diseases.

Airway diseases such as allergic asthma and rhinitis are characterized by a T-helper type 2 (Th2) response. Treatment of allergic airway diseases is currently limited to drugs that relieve disease symptoms and inflammation. In the search for new therapeutics, efforts have been made to treat allergic airway disease with gene therapy, and many preclinical studies have demonstrated its impressive ...