DEVELOPMENT OF A MOUSE MODEL OF ALLERGIC RHINITIS AND BRONCHIAL ASTHMA CAUSED BY WORMWOOD POLLEN

Abstract

Relevance. The prevalence of IgE-mediated allergic diseases among the population of industrially developed countries
has reached 35%, and experts estimate that it will increase further in the next decade. Allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT)
is the only therapeutic approach capable of changing the natural course of the allergic process. Global prevalence of allergic
diseases and several disadvantages of commercially available SIT products, made us start the search for new and improved
specific treatment of allergies, which in turn requires the proper modeling of allergic diseases using laboratory animals.
Aim. Modeling of IgE-mediated bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis in mice for future development of a new vaccine for
allergen-specific immunotherapy.
Materials and Methods. Study design – experimental preclinical prospective cohort study. The entire cycle of work with
laboratory animals was carried out at M. Aikimbayev National Research Center for Especially Dangerous Infections of the
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan from September 2020 to January 2021. To model IgE-mediated bronchial
asthma 8-12 week old SPF Balb/c female mice were used. Mice were sensitized by intranasal (IN) and intraperitoneal (IP)
ways with 3 different extracts: bitter wormwood, common wormwood and their mix. Our choice of these particular allergens is
determined by their significance in the ethiology of seasonal pollinosis in Kazakhstan. When assessing the level of
sensitization of mice, a comprehensive approach was used, which included the analysis of antibody and cytokine levels,
cellular immune responses, clinical signs and histological analysis of the lungs. Generally accepted methods of statistical
processing of experimentally obtained samples of varying variables were used. The mean value of the sample (X) and the
standard error (m) were determined. The reliability of the differences between the indicators and the groups was determined
using the Graph Pad Prism 8 statistical program (Graph Pad Software, Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA).
Novelty: Modeling of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma with IN and IP regimes of sensitization with the use of bitter
wormwood and common wormwood extracts and their mix in mice was tested for the first time.
Results: Among the allergens tested, common wormwood extract in the intraperitoneal sensitization had shown the most
potent sensitizing effect: high values of total and antigen-specific IgE antibodies; pronounced polarization of immune
response toward Th2 by the ratio of IgG1/IgG2a antibodies; positive reaction in the allergy ear swelling test; induced
perivascular and eosinophilic inflammation in the lungs with expression of the allergic proinflammatory cytokine IL-5.
Conclusions: In modeling of IgE-mediated bronchial asthma in mice, common wormwood extract with intraperitoneal
sensitization has the most potent sensitizing effect.