Figure 4.

Therapeutic ICOS‐L blockade improves chronic allergic airway disease. Adult female BALB/c mice were exposed (i.n) to 25 μg house dust mite (HDM) or 25 μL phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS), three times a week for 5 weeks. From the start of week 4, mice were also administered 150 μg anti‐ICOS‐L (α‐ICOS‐L) or isotype control (IgG) antibody (i.p) three times a week. Mice were culled at the end of week 5. A, Number of lung cells, B, Lung eosinophil numbers, C, Proportions of lung eosinophils, D, Airway hyper‐responsiveness was measured by exposing mice to 0‐100 mg/mL methacholine (MCh) using the flexiVent system during HDM‐induced allergic airway disease. Airway resistance, elastance and compliance were measured. Curves display mean±SEM. Statistical significance between HDM+ IgG and HDM+α‐ICOS‐L groups was determined using a Mann‐Whitney U test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Data are pooled from two independent experiments, n = 8 for PBS‐treated groups, n = 12 for HDM‐treated groups