Figure 3.

Effects of Amish and Hutterite House-Dust Extracts on Airway Responses in Mouse Models of Allergic Asthma. Panel A shows the effects of the intranasal instillation of 50 μl of Amish or Hutterite dust extract in 7-week-old mice (BALB/c strain) every 2 to 3 days for a total of 14 times beginning at day 0. The mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) intraperitoneally on days 0 and 14 and challenged with ovalbumin intranasally on days 28 and 38. Airway resistance (shown as centimeters of water per milliliter per second and stimulated in response to increasing doses of acetylcholine administered intravenously) and bronchoalveolar-lavage (BAL) cellularity were measured on day 39 (4 to 6 mice per group). The total amount of Amish and Hutterite dust extract administered over the course of the experiment represented the total load of airborne dust deposited on electrostatic dust collectors placed in Amish or Hutterite homes for 1 month. Statistical differences in experimental measures were assessed with the use of Student’s t-test. Amish house-dust extracts (7.5 mg of dust equivalent in 50 μl) were instilled intranasally every 2 to 3 days for a total of 14 times beginning 5 days before day 0 into 7-week old wild-type mice (Panel B), mice deficient in MyD88 (Panel C), and mice deficient in MyD88 and Trif (Panel D) (all C57BL6 strains). These mice were sensitized intraperitoneally with 20 μg of ovalbumin on days 0 and 14 and were challenged intranasally with 75 μg of ovalbumin on days 26, 27, and 28. Airway resistance (shown as an increase from baseline in response to increasing doses of nebulized methacholine) and bronchoalveolar-lavage cellularity were measured on day 30 (12 mice per group for wild-type mice and 6 mice per group for those deficient in MyD88 or MyD88 and Trif). Statistical differences in experimental measures were assessed with the use of Student’s t-test. I bars represent the standard errors of the data. NS denotes not significant and PBS phosphate-buffered saline.

From New England Journal of Medicine: M.M. Stein, C.L. Hrusch, J. Gozdz, C. Igartua, V. Pivniouk, S.E. Murray, J.G. Ledford, M. Marques dos Santos, R.L. Anderson, N. Metwali, J.W. Neilson, R.M. Maier, J.A. Gilbert, M. Holbreich, P.S. Thorne, F.D. Martinez, E. von Mutius, D. Vercelli, C. Ober, A.I. Sperling. Innate Immunity and Asthma Risk in Amish and Hutterite Farm Children. Volume 375, pages 411–421. Copyright © 2016 Massachusetts Medical Society. Reprinted with permission.