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. 2014 Mar 11;9(3):e91223. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091223

Figure 6. Lung remodeling and allergen specific IgE levels in mice treated with dexamethasone, TLR7 or TLR9 agonists.

Figure 6

Mice were treated as described in Figure 1C and in the legend of Figure 5. Mucus production was assessed by automated analysis of the epithelium of PAS stained sections (A). Mucus plugging was scored manually analyzing whole lung cross sections as described in methods (B). Smooth muscle area (C) and smooth muscle thickness (D) were assessed by automated analysis of the smooth muscles surrounding the main bronchus in lungs stained for α-smooth muscle actin. Collagen I levels were determined in lung homogenate via ELISA (E). Levels of IgE specific for the allergens OVA (F), CRA (G), and HDM (H) were measured in the serum of animals and are expressed in arbitrary units. Results represent mean ± SEM for 8–12 mice/group and 5–9 mice/group for mucus plugging. #P<0.05; ##P<0.01; ###P<0.001 in comparison to the triple allergen combination (TAC) group.