Figure 4

OVA-induced gastrointestinal food allergy increases immunoglobulin production and allergic airways response in Der f-induced asthma model. (A) An OVA food allergy followed by respiratory allergy were induced in Balb/c mice. At the end of the protocol, blood was removed and serum collected to quantify (B) total IgG1 and IgE as well as (C) Der f-specific and OVA-specific IgE by ELISA in controls (CTRL, white circles), OVA-induced food allergy (FA, white squares), Der f-induced asthma (RA, black squares) and bi-allergic Der f-induced asthma with OVA-induced food allergy (FA + RA, black circles) mice. (D) Measurement of AHR with increasing doses of methacholin (upper panel) and to the higher dose (lower panel) in control (white circles), FA (white squares), RA (black squares) and bi-allergic FA + RA (black circles) mice. Data are represented as mean ± SEM (n = at least 5 mice/group). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.