1007 Role of Nrf2 in the Allergic Airway Inflammation Differ Between BALB/c and C57BL/6 Mice

Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Hall D1 Foyer (Floor 3) (Coex Convention Center)

Ying-Ji Li, MD, PhD , Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Takako Shimizu , Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Yukiyo Hirata, PhD , Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Hirofumi Inagaki, PhD , Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Hajime Takizawa, MD, PhD , Kyorin University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Arata Azuma, MD, PhD , Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Masayuki Yamamoto, MD, PhD , Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

Tomoyuki Kawada, MD, PhD , Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Oxidative stress has been postulated to play an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic airway inflammation. Nrf2 is involved in the transcriptional regulation of many antioxidant genes. In the present study, we investigated the role of Nrf2 on an experimental model of Ovalbumin (OVA) - sensitized and challenged allergic airway inflammation in both of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice.

Nrf2−/− and Nrf2+/+ mice were used in both of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Allergic airway inflammation was generated in the mice by intraperitoneal sensitization with OVA/alum on days 0, 6 and 7. The mice were challenged with OVA intranasally on day 21. After OVA challenge twenty-four hours, we examined the cell populations in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and the IgE levels in the serum. Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) was assessed by whole-body plethysmography with a free-moving application.

The number of total cells, macrophages and eosinophils in BAL fluid was decreased in Nrf2-/- compared with Nrf2+/+ mice, this was also the case for the AHR changes in both of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. The number of neutrophils in BAL fluid and the IgE levels in the serum were significantly increased in Nrf2-/- compared with Nrf2+/+ in BALB/c mice; in contrast, there was no significantly different between Nrf2-/- and Nrf2+/+ in C57BL/6 mice.

In conclusion, the role of Nrf2 in the generation of allergic airway inflammation differs markedly between mouse strains. Our results suggest that Nrf2 may play a key role in the development of allergic airway inflammation related to neutrophils in BALB/c mice.