Sagar,Seil,HamidAkbarshahi,LenaUller.

Translationalvalueofanimalmodelsofasthma:
Challengesandpromises
UnitofRespiratoryImmunopharmacology,Departmentof
ExperimentalMedicalScience,Lund,University,Sweden.
EuropeanJournalofPharmacology,
2015.Web.3April,2016.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.waketech.edu/science/article/pii/S0014299915002538>

Asthmaisahumanmultifactorialdisease,andislessthanlikelytoappearinanimals.
Thepurposeofthisstudyofthescientificstudyonasthma,istosharetheinformationand
journeyofasthmastudiesusinganimalmodels,allowingimprovementinmedicines.The
researchforasthmausesanimalmodelstofocusonthesevereformofasthmaaccordingtothe
article,anestimated300millionpeoplehavesomeformofasthmaworldwide.Manypeople
havethecondition,whichcauseswondermentaboutasthmatoarise.Astudiedquestioninthis
researchisonthetypeofanimalsused.Exposureofanimalstototheproteinovalbumin(OVA)
throughtheairways,causesairwayinflammationwhichproduceshumanlikefeatures.The
animalsinthiskindofresearcharemice.Micedonotdevelopasthma,buttheydodevelop
featureslikeasthma,whichiswhytheyareusedduringresearch.BeingthatOVAisnot
associatedwithasthmainhumans,otherfactorsareusedtomakeasthmamodelslikedustmites
andgrasspollen.Anotheranimalusedinthisthisresearcharehousedustmites(HDM),which
areoneofthemostcommonallergensworldwide.ContinuousadministrationofHDMleadsto
airwayinflammation.UsingHDMwithmice,isexpandingthescienceresearchonanimal
modelsforasthma.
Anassumptiontheauthormadeduringthisresearchwasthathorsesandcatswouldreact
toallergensthesamewayasthmatichumansdoandhavethesamefeatures.AkeyfindingI
foundusingtheprotein,OVAassociatingwithmiceisthat,itcontributedtoourunderstanding
ofallthefunctionsofthelungs.HDMallowsustolookintochangesassociatedwithallergic

exposureandreactions.HDMexposurecausesanincreasedamountofmucouscelldensity,
whichcanlastawhileevenafterthereaction.HDMmodelshelpscientistsprovideaprecise
modeltostudycellprofilestogetabetteranddeeperknowledgeonasthmawithanimalmodels.
Foundinthetext,Sizeofthelungs,airwaybranchingpattern,divisionofthelungs,the
lessprominentroleofmastcells,caughtmyattentionbecauseofthephysicalimportanceand
description.Scientistsaretryingtofindwaystogetabetterunderstandingofasthmathrough
animalsthathavesimilarhumanlikeasthmafeatures.Developingmedicineisaprocess,but
somemedicinemightbepersonalizedforpeopledependingonthesizeoftheirlungs,airway
branchingpatternandthedivisionoftheirlungs.
Inconclusion,researchforasthmausinganimalmodelsistheonlypossiblewayto
provideasafetreatmentforasthmapatientsworldwide.SomethingthatIwonderis,howmuch
effortthegovernmentputintofundingthisresearch,consideringthat300millionpeopleand
morehavethedisease.Thisarticlesimplybreaksdownthedifferentapproachesscientiststook
towardsunderstandingasthmawithanimalmodels.