Figure 6.

Intranasal administration of untreated and heat-treated Bl 7952 differently reduces allergic inflammation in lungs of OVA-sensitized mice (A) Representative tissue section Periodic Acid-Schiff staining of the lungs from OVA-sensitized and challenged mice pre-treated with PBS (PBS/OVA, black box), untreated Bl 7952 (UN Bl 7952/OVA, blue box) and heat-treated Bl 7952 (HT Bl 7952/OVA, orange box) strain. Scale (200 μm) applies to all presented images, magnification ×100. (B) Inflammatory score of the lungs was determined by histopathological analysis. (C) Total and differential cell counts were determined in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Levels of spontaneous cytokine production from BAL fluid (D) IL-4, (E) IL-5, (F) IL-10 and (G) IFN-γ were expressed as pg/ml. (H) OVA-specific IgE was determined in BAL fluid as % of β-hexosaminidase release assay. (I) Total IgA in BAL fluid was measured by ELISA and expressed as ng/ml. (J) OVA-specific IgA and (K) untreated or heat-treated Bl 7952-specific IgA were determined in BAL fluid as optical density (λ = 405 nm). Results are shown as boxplot means and min to max value bars; each dot represents a single mouse. Significant difference between PBS/OVA and bifidobacteria-treated/OVA experimental groups was calculated by one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparison test *p <.0.05. **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001.