Figure 3.

Pathology of the nose and nasopharynx in EDA pathway deleted mice. (A) Rhinitis, nasopharyngitis and otitis media increases in prevalence between weaning age (3 weeks) and adulthood in Edar^dlJ/dlJ(7–17-weeks old) and Eda^Ta (12–43-weeks old) mice: there was no evidence of this pathology in Edar^dlJ/+(n = 45), Edar ^Tg951/951 (n = 23) or FVB (n = 36) mice. The number above each histogram bar indicates the number of tissues examined. (B) The number of nasal epithelial cells with hyaline droplets in rostral, mid and nasopharynx duct sections is higher in Edar^dlJ/dlJ and Eda^Ta mice compared to FVB and Edar^dlJ/+respectively at 3-weeks (weaning) and 12-weeks of age. The graph represents data points and the median (that incudes zero values) as a bar; two-tailed Kruskal Wallis test; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ****P< 0.001 Dunn’s multiple comparison test. (C) The rostral nasal passages of a 21-day-old Eda^Ta mouse with rhinitis contain foreign bodies (fb hair shaft fragments and plant material) mixed with neutrophil rich exudate (ex); medial submucosal gland (mng) and nasal septum cartilage (nsc). (D) Comparable image of 22-day-old FVB mouse shows no evidence of intraluminal exudate. (E) Ciliated epithelial cells with intracytoplasmic hyaline droplets (hd) and cytoplasmic blebbing (cb) in the nasal septum of a 12-week-old Eda^Ta mouse; Giemsa stain. (F) Comparable section in a 12-week-old FVB mouse shows normal respiratory epithelium without hyaline droplets. (G) Nasopharyngitis in 21-day-old Edar^dlJ/dlJ mouse with squamous epithelium (se) lining the roof of the nasopharynx (nd) and infiltration of the submucosa with lymphocytes and plasma cells (pc); (I) shows higher magnification of the squamous epithelium. (H) The nasopharynx of 21-day-old FVB mouse has a ciliated respiratory epithelium (ce) with goblet cells, and auditory tube submucosal glands (smg); (J) shows a higher magnification of the ciliated epithelium. Scale bars 100 µm (C,D,G,H); 50 µm (E,F); 20 µm (I,J).