FIGURE 5. MM218 intervention reduces T_H2 cytokine levels in the airways of allergic mice but does not affect T_H2 T cell priming.

Mice were primed/challenged with OVA and some groups were treated i.p. with MM218 or PBS on days 7, 9 and 11 of the regimen. (A) BAL fluid was collected and pooled for each group, followed by 8x concentration. Levels of IL-5 and IL-13 cytokines were measured in the resulting fluid by ELISA. Data show the mean ± SE for replicate wells (n=4). Student’s t-test established *** P<0.001 for both cytokines comparing OVA + MM218 to OVA + PBS groups. (B) Spleens were collected from the same groups of mice and cell suspensions were generated and stimulated in vitro with different doses of OVA protein to induce cytokine production. After four days of culture, supernatants were collected and tested for levels IL-5 and IL-13. Data show the mean ± SE for replicate wells (n=4). (C) Serum was collected from individual mice and levels of OVA-specific IgE measured by ELISA. Data shown mean ± SE titers, with n=6 mice per group. These data are representative of 2–3 independent experiments.