Figure 5.

Airway inflammation measured after intranasal coexposure to allergen and particles. Cell numbers and cytokines in BALF collected following OVA booster, 26 days after intranasal exposure of mice to allergen alone or together with particles (as described in legend of Figure 4). The total cell numbers (a) were determined on a Coulter cell counter, whereas the number of neutrophils (b), eosinophils (c), lymphocytes (d), and macrophages (e) and the percent of particle-associated macrophages (f) were determined by counting 400 cells per stained cytoslide. The amount of MCP-1 (g) and TNF-γ (h) in BALF supernatants was determined by CBA assay. Values for individual mice (circles) and group medians (columns) for groups of ten mice are shown, except MCP-1 and TNF-α where only half of the samples could be measured. Asterisk denotes significant differences compared to the OVA group, **P < 0.001, *P < 0.05. Statistically significant differences between particle groups are given in the results section.