Figure 1. Manifestations of allergic airway disease after intratracheal use of IL-2 plus dexamethasone.

Intratracheal administration of IL-2 and Dexamethasone upregulated Tregs in BALF and alleviated asthma. (a) Timeline of drug intervention and analysis. Female BALB/c mice were immunized with OVA i.p on days 1 and 8, followed by intranasal (i.n) 2% OVA challenges on days 9–14. And 50,000 IU IL-2 plus 12.5 μg dexamethasone (Dex) were administrated intratracheally on days 12–14. On day 15, mice were sacrificed and analyzed by flow cytometry and histopathology. (b) Detection of CD4+FoxP3+ Treg cell composition among lymphocytes in BALF by flow cytometry. (c) Analysis of Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-5 in BALF. (d) H&E and PAS staining of the lung section (scale bars, 200 μm). (e,f) Computer-based quantification of lung inflammation and mucus production. *p < 0.05, 50,000 IU IL-2 plus 12.5 μg dexamethasone group versus other groups by two-way ANOVA analysis. Data are presented as means ± SEM (n ≥ 8 per group and data point) from 2 independent experiments. i.n., Intranasal; i.p., intraperitoneal. Nacl group, asthma model mice treated with normal saline.