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The orl rat is more responsive to methacholine challenge than wild type.

Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Sep 10;

Authors: Rodriguez E, Barthold JS, Kreiger PA, Armani MH, Wang J, Michelini KA, Wolfson MR, Boyce R, Barone CA, Zhu Y, Waldman SA, Shaffer TH

Abstract
BACKGROUND: This study presents an animal model of native airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). AHR is a fundamental aspect of asthma and reflects an abnormal response characterized by airway narrowing following exposure to a wide variety of non-immunological stimuli. Undescended testis (UDT) is one of the most common male congenital anomalies. The orl rat is a Long Evans substrain with inherited UDT. Since boys born with congenital UDT are more likely to manifest asthma symptoms, the main aim in this study was to investigate the alternative hypothesis that orl rats have greater AHR to a methacholine aerosol challenge than wild type rats.
METHODS: Long Evans wild type (n=9) and orl (n=13) rats were anesthetized, tracheostomized, and mechanically ventilated at 4 weeks of age. Escalating concentrations of inhaled methacholine were delivered. The methacholine potency and efficacy in the strains were measured. Respiratory resistance was the primary endpoint. After the final methacholine aerosol challenge, the short-acting ?2-adrenoceptor agonist albuterol was administered as an aerosol and lung/diaphragm tissues were assayed for interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-?. Histological and histomorphometrical analyses were performed.
RESULTS: The methacholine concentration-response curve in the orl group indicated increased sensitivity, hyperreactivity, and exaggerated maximal response in comparison with the wild type group, indicating that orl rats had abnormally greater AHR responses to methacholine. Histological findings in orl rats showed the presence of eosinophils, unlike wild type rats. ?2-adrenoceptor agonist intervention resulted in up-regulation of IL-4 diaphragmatic levels and down-regulation of IL-4 and IL-6 in the lungs of orl rats.
CONCLUSION: orl rats had greater AHR than wild type rats during methacholine challenge, with higher IL-4 levels in diaphragmatic tissue homogenates. Positive immunostaining for IL-4 was detected in lung and diaphragmatic tissue in both strains. This model offers advantages over other pre-clinical murine models for studying potential mechanistic links between cryptorchidism and asthma. This animal model may be useful for further testing of compounds/therapeutics options for treating AHR.

PMID: 25218882 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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