Clinical and epidemiological studies indicate that obesity affects the development and phenotype of asthma by inducing inflammatory mechanisms in addition to eosinophilic inflammation. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of obesity on allergic airway inflammation and T helper type 2 (Th2) immune responses using an experimental model of asthma in BALB/c mice. Mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 10 weeks were sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA), and analyses were performed at 24 and 48 h after the last OVA challenge. Obesity induced an increase of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-expressing macrophages and neutrophils which peaked at 48 h after the last OVA challenge, and was associated with higher levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-9, IL-17A, leptin and interferon (IFN)-γ in the lungs. Higher goblet cell hyperplasia was associated with elevated mast cell influx into the lungs and trachea in the obese allergic mice. In contrast, early eosinophil influx and lower levels of IL-25, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), CCL11 and OVA-specific immunoglobulin (IgE) were observed in the obese allergic mice in comparison to non-obese allergic mice. Moreover, obese mice showed higher numbers of mast cells regardless of OVA challenge. These results indicate that obesity affects allergic airway inflammation through mechanisms involving mast cell influx and the release of TSLP and IL-25, which favoured a delayed immune response with an exacerbated Th1, Th2 and Th17 profile. In this scenario, an intense mixed inflammatory granulocyte influx, classically activated macrophage accumulation and intense mucus production may contribute to a refractory therapeutic response and exacerbate asthma severity.

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Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a murine autoimmune disease used to study multiple sclerosis. We have investigated the immunomodulatory effects of copaiba oil (100, 50 and 25 µg/mL) on NO, H 2 O 2 , TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-17 production in cultured cells from EAE-mice. Copaiba oil (100 µg/mL) inhibited H 2 O 2 , NO, IFN-γ TNF-α and IL-17 production spontaneously or after ConA and MOG stimulation. It is suggested that copaiba oil acts on the mechanism of development of EAE by IFN-γ, IL-17 and TNF-α inhibition, modulating the immune response on both Th1 and Th17 cells.

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Injection of an Ascaris suum extract (Asc) affects both the humoral and cellular immune responses to unrelated antigens when it is coadministered with these antigens. In the present study we evaluated the effect of Asc on macrophage activation in the early phase of Mycobacterium bovis BCG (Pasteur strain TMCC 1173) infection in C57Bl/6 mice. C57Bl/6 mice were injected intraperitoneally (ip) with 0.1 mg BCG (BCG group) or BCG plus 1 mg Asc (BCG + Asc group). The peritoneal exudates were obtained at 2, 7 and 14 days after infection. The numbers of IFN-g-secreting cells were assessed by the ELISPOT assay. Nitric oxide (NO) production was measured by the Griess method and by the evaluation of NADPH diaphorase activity in the peritoneal exudates. The administration of Asc extract increased NADPH diaphorase activity (2 days: control = 0, BCG = 7%, BCG + Asc = 13%, and Asc = 4%; 7 days: control = 4, BCG = 13%, BCG + Asc = 21%, and Asc = 4.5%) and TNF-a levels (mean ± SD; 2 days: control = 0, BCG = 169 ± 13, BCG + Asc = 202 ± 37, and Asc = 0; 7 days: control = 0, BCG = 545 ± 15.5, BCG + Asc = 2206 ± 160.6, and Asc = 126 ± 26; 14 days: control = 10 ± 1.45, BCG = 9 ± 1.15, BCG + Asc = 126 ± 18, and Asc = 880 ± 47.67 pg/ml) in the early phase of BCG infection. Low levels of NO production were detected at 2 and 7 days after BCG infection, increasing at 14 days (mean ± SD; 2 days: control = 0, BCG = 3.7 ± 1.59, BCG + Asc = 0.82 ± 0.005, Asc = 0.48 ± 0.33; 7 days: control = 0, BCG = 2.78 ± 1.54, BCG + Asc = 3.07 ± 1.05, Asc = 0; 14 days: control = 0, BCG = 9.05 ± 0.53, BCG + Asc = 9.61 ± 0.81, Asc = 10.5 ± 0.2 (2 x 10 6 ) cells/ml). Furthermore, we also observed that Asc co-injection induced a decrease of BCG-colonyforming units (CFU) in the spleens of BCG-infected mice during the first week of infection (mean ± SD; 2 days: BCG = 1.13 ± 0.07 and BCG + Asc = 0.798 ± 0.305; 7 days: BCG = 1.375 ± 0.194 and BCG + Asc = 0.548 ± 0.0226; 14 days: BCG = 0.473 ± 0.184 and BCG + Asc = 0.675 ± 0.065 (x 10 2 ) CFU). The present data suggest that Asc induces the enhancement of the immune response in the early phase of BCG infection. Correspondence