Preclinical Allergic Asthma Models | Rodent Airway Inflammation

Preclinical Allergic Asthma Models

Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by allergen-driven immune activation, airway hyperresponsiveness, mucus overproduction, bronchoconstriction, and inflammatory cell recruitment.

IPS Therapeutique offers mouse, rat, and guinea pig models of allergic airway inflammation to evaluate asthma-directed therapeutics, including anti-inflammatory, bronchodilator, immunomodulatory, and mucus-modulating agents.

These models support assessment of airway function, BALF inflammatory cells, cytokine and chemokine responses, IgE-related allergic inflammation, mucus production, and lung histopathology.

Allergic Asthma - Methodology

Available species

Mouse, Rat, Guinea Pig

Common induction approaches

Ovalbumin, or OVA, sensitization and challenge
House dust mite, or HDM, challenge
LPS-enhanced allergic airway inflammation, when appropriate
Respiratory viral challenge add-on, when relevant to the study objective

Typical study design

In-life phase: approximately 7 weeks
Total study duration: approximately 10 weeks
Preventive or therapeutic dosing designs
Flexible treatment route based on test article properties
Methacholine challenge and lung function assessment, when required
Terminal BALF, blood, and lung tissue collection

Model design considerations

OVA models are reproducible and useful for allergic inflammation screening
HDM models provide greater clinical relevance for allergen-driven airway disease
LPS or viral add-ons can model mixed inflammatory or exacerbation-like features
Endpoint selection should match the therapeutic mechanism of action

Allergic Asthma - Readouts & Application

Functional respiratory readouts

Whole-body plethysmography
Methacholine-induced airway hyperresponsiveness
Pulmonary pressure-volume loop analysis
Lung compliance and resistance
Respiratory pattern analysis

Inflammatory and biochemical readouts

BALF total cell count
BALF differential cell count
Eosinophil, neutrophil, macrophage, and lymphocyte recruitment
Th2 cytokines, including IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13
Cytokines and chemokines
Serum or BALF IgE, when applicable

Histological readouts

H&E lung histology
Peribronchial and perivascular inflammation
Goblet cell hyperplasia
Mucus production
Airway remodeling
Semi-quantitative lung inflammation scoring

Drug development applications

Asthma efficacy testing
Anti-inflammatory therapy evaluation
Bronchodilator assessment
Immunomodulatory drug testing
Mucus-modulating therapy evaluation
Dose-response and treatment-timing studies
Mechanism-of-action support