The Impact of Aspergillus fumigatus Viability and Sensitization to Its Allergens on the Murine Allergic Asthma Phenotype
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the inhalation (INH) challenge protocol with irradiation-killed or live Aspergillus fumigatus conidia in a nonsensitized (a) or sensitized (b) murine host. For protocol (a), mice without prior fungal exposure were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of ketamine and xylazine and subjected to a 10 min, nose-only INH of dry, aerosolized, dead, or live A. fumigatus conidia, once a week for three consecutive weeks. For protocol (b), mice were sensitized to fungal antigens by subcutaneous and IP injection of A. fumigatus antigen mixed with alum in PBS. This was followed by three weekly intranasal inoculations of A. fumigatus antigen in PBS. A week later, mice were challenged once a week for three consecutive weeks, with dead or live A. fumigatus conidia, in exactly the same way as for Protocol (a). Challenged mice treated according to protocol (a) or (b) were analyzed on days 3, 7, and 28 after third challenge. Naïve animals were maintained as negative controls.
