Establishment of allergic rhinitis animal model and its application in detection of interleukin 6 and 10

Objective To establish guinea pig model for allergic Rhinitis (AR) and detect interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 10(IL-10) in it. Methods Twenty Hartley guinea pigs were selected and randomly divided into experimental group and control group with each group of 10 animals. Ovalbumin (OVA) was used as allergen and aluminum hydroxide as adjuvant. The experiment included two stages, which were systemic sensitization and nose provocation, the experimental group was induced by intraperitoneal injection with OVA suspension 1 ml, once every two days for 7 times, and the control group was induced by intraperitoneal injection with normal saline 1 ml once every two days for 7 times. Three days after systemic sensitization, OVA solution was dropped into nose with 0.05 ml for each nasal cavity, once a day for 7 days. The behaviors such as nasal itching, sneezing, nasal discharge, asthma were carefully investigated. The behaviors were scaled from 1 to 3 scores and more than 5 scores in total were considered as a successful model. The eosinophils was counted under high magnification microscope (×400), and IL-6 and IL-10 were detected by ELISA Kits. Results The guinea pigs in experimental group after sensitizing and provocation developed frequent nasal itching, sneezing and rhinorrhea. The success rate of animal model in the experimental group was 60%. Compared with control group, eosinophil infiltration in experimental group increased significantly (P< 0.05). The dead guinea pig in experimental group showed significant eosinophil infiltration in lung and bronchial mucosa compared to the control group seemingly like asthmatic inflammation. The experimental group had higher IL-6 level (185.41±9.57) ng/L, IL-10 level (99.97±12.71) ng/L than those in control groupIL-6 level (4.35±0.30) ng/L, IL-10 (4.45±0.31) ng/L (P< 0.05, respectively). Conclusion The guinea pig model for AR is successfully established and lays the foundation for the following studies.