Fig 3. Nitrated BLG enhances the anaphylactic response in BLG immunized animals.

After i.v. allergen challenge all BLG immunized groups showed significantly elevated levels of the anaphylaxis marker mMCP-1 compared to naïve control groups (A). Allergic mice injected with nitrated BLG (BLGn) revealed a significantly higher mMCP-1 release compared to mice only receiving untreated (BLG) or sham-nitrated (BLGs) BLG. Systemic challenge of allergic mice with different preparations of OVM did not result in differences of mMCP-1 between OVM, OVMs and OVMn (B). Mouse MCP-1 concentrations were compared with One-way ANOVA. Body temperature of all groups was assessed before and 15 and 30 min after i.v. challenge (C, D). A significant drop of body temperature was observed in all allergic mice. Animals challenged with BLGn showed a significant decline of body temperature compared to BLG and BLGs, while in OVM allergic mice decrease was most prominent in OVMs. Mean temperatures of all groups at 30 min were compared using One-way ANOVA prior to Tukey multiple comparison test (*P>0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001). BLG, beta-lactoglobulin; BLGn, nitrated BLG; BLGs, sham-nitrated BLG; i.v., intravenous; mMCP-1, mouse mast cell protease-1; OVM, ovomucoid; OVMn, nitrated OVM; OVMs, sham-nitrated OVM