Fig. 5

Systemic blockade of interleukin-4 receptor alpha (IL-4Rα) through a prophylactic strategy attenuates house dust mite (HDM)-induced goblet cell metaplasia. Lung tissue, obtained on day 8 post-infection from pH1N1-infected mice, was paraffin-embedded and stained with Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS). a Representative images were obtained at a magnification of 160× and 800×. b–d A colour segmentation algorithm was used to quantify positively stained cells. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM by two-tailed Student’s t-test. Blue/pink bars: intranasal phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (n = 10) / intranasal HDM (n = 9); green/orange bars: intranasal HDM followed by prophylactic strategy of IL-4Rα blockade (n = 13) / IgG (n = 12); black/red bars: intranasal HDM followed by therapeutic strategy of IL-4Rα blockade (n = 12) / IgG (n = 12). **** P < 0.0001; ns: not significant