TSLP neutralization in the lung alters Th2-typed responses.

<p>The expression levels of T-bet mRNA (A) were elevated in all of the treatment groups following prolonged exposure to HDM for 5 weeks, whereas the expression levels of GATA-3 mRNA (B) were increased in the repeated HDM exposure group and the IgG-treated control mice. However, the T-bet/GATA-3 ratio (C) was lower in both the prolonged HDM exposure group and in the IgG-treated control mice, compared with both the anti-TSLP treatment group and the saline-treated control mice. The relative quantitative mRNA levels in the lung homogenate were detected using RT-PCR (D). The levels of the Th1-associated cytokine IFN-γ in the BALF were elevated in all of the subphenotype groups following exposure to HDM for 5 weeks. The levels of the Th2-associated cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 in the BALF were higher in the prolonged HDM-exposed group and in the IgG-treated control mice than in both the anti-TSLP mAb- and saline-treated control mice. However, IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio (E) was lower in both the prolonged HDM exposure group and the IgG-treated control mice than the ratio that was observed in the anti-TSLP mAb- and saline-treated control mice. The cytokines were elevated based on ELISAs. The data shown represent the means±SEM (n = 5), mRNA value = 2^−ΔΔCt, ΔΔCt = (Ct_Target-Ct_Actin) of the treated mice–(Ct_Target-Ct_Actin) of the saline control mice. * p<0.05 or ** p<0.01 compared with the HDM group. ^# p<0.05 or ^## p<0.01 compared with the IgG-treated controls. The results are derived from 4 experimental groups (5 mice/per group), and both protein and mRNA levels were determined in duplicate.