Stigmasterol Modulates Allergic Airway Inflammation in Guinea Pig Model of Ovalbumin-Induced Asthma

Figure 4

Effect of stigmasterol on inflammatory cell infiltration. Guinea pigs were sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin as described in the methods. Animals received either saline, dexamethasone, or stigmasterol 1 h prior to each challenge. Naïve controls received normal saline only. Animals were sacrificed 24 h after the last ovalbumin challenge. The lungs were excised, fixed, and embedded in paraffin. 3 μm sections were stained with H&E to assess cell infiltration in naïve (a), saline (b), and dexamethasone (c) and 10, 50, and 100 mg/kg stigmasterol-treated animals (d–f). Degree of infiltration was quantified using an infiltration score described by Zare et al. [24] with slight modifications (g). Data is expressed as mean cell infiltration score ± SEM (). and as compared to the saline-treated group and ^### as compared to the naïve group using one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnet’s post hoc test.

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