The effect of dexamethasone on airway remodeling in asthmatic mouse

Objective To explore the effect of dexamethasone(DXM)on airway remodeling in asthmatic mouse.Methods The mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group,asthmatic group,and DXM treated group,with 10 mice in each group.The asthmatic group,and the DXM treated group were sensitized and repeatedly challenged with ovalbumin(OVA)for 2 and 4 weeks.The DXM treated group were intraperitoneal injected DXM.After the modle succeded,the mice were lavaged.The eosinophil around the airway was observed after the histological section of lung staining with hematoxylin and eosin staining.The following parameters were measured by leica image analysis software:the perimeter of bronchial basement membrane(Pbm),total bronchial wall area(WAt),inner wall area(WAi),and smooth muscle area(WAm).The protein expression of CTGF was assessed with immunohistochemistry.SPSS 13.0 software was applied to analyze data.Results WAt/Pbm,WAi/Pbm,WAm/Pbm and the expression of CTGF were significantly higher in the asthmatic group than those in the control group.Dexamethasone treated group could significantly alleviate the above-mentioned indicators increased.Conclusion Airway remodeling could occur in the early phase of asthma and become more exacerbated with the extended OVA challenge.Dexamethasone could partly inhibit airway remodeling.