Figure 9.

Scoring of different parameters on lung histology of mice with allergic inflammation. (a) Inflammatory infiltration, epithelial hypertrophy and subepithelial fibrosis were evaluated by three different operators in HE sections. (b) Morphometric analysis of AB/PAS staining, which indicates that montelukast (MK) was more efficient than budesonide (BUD) to revert mucous metaplasia. (c) Distribution of non-ciliated bronchiolar cell phenotypes evaluated by electron microscopy evidencing the transformation of all non-ciliated Clara cells to goblet-like cells in allergic mice and the reversion after treatments. (d) subepithelial thickness; this parameter was analysed by electron microscopy and displayed a significant increase after allergy. Even though both therapies reduced the subepithelial layer, MK was more efficient than BUD. *P < 0.05,**P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. control; ••P < 0.01 vs. allergic; ♦P < 0.05 vs. budesonide.