Figure 4.

Mean eosinophil and T-lymphocyte subset (CD₂⁺, CD₄⁺ and CD₈⁺) counts in airway submucosa (expressed per mm²) of the four groups of rats described in the legend to Figure 1. Allergen exposure of sensitized rats increased the infiltration of eosinophils, as well as of T-cell subsets (CD₂⁺, CD₄⁺ and CD₈⁺). There was a reduction in CD8⁺ cell counts after anti-CD8 antibody treatment in both saline and ovalbumin (OA)-exposed animals; however, in the sensitized OA-exposed rats, anti-CD8 antibody did not completely suppress CD8⁺ T cells in tissue. CD2⁺ and CD4⁺ T-cell counts were not significantly affected, and eosinophil counts were non-significantly increased after anti-CD8 antibody treatment of sensitized and OA-exposed rats. *P < 0·05 as SOsham or SOcd8 compared with NO and SScd8 groups; ††P < 0·02 compared with the NO group. Data are shown as mean±SEM.