Airway inflammation in sheep with acute airway hypersensitivity to inhaled Ascaris suum.

In order to investigate the relationship between airway inflammation and the development of naturally occurring allergic airway hypersensitivity, the lower respiratory tract was studied in eighteen sheep 14 days after challenge with inhaled Ascaris suum antigen. Sheep could be classed into three groups on the basis of their response: group A (n = 6) had significant changes in both airway resistance and dynamic lung compliance; group B (n = 6) had changes in only dynamic lung compliance, and group C (n = 6) were nonresponders. The results showed that the volume density of secretory granules in lung mast cells was greater in hypersensitive sheep than in nonreacting sheep (p less than 0.01). This high volume density was due to a high numerical density of granules in the mast cells. There was, however, no significant difference between groups in the numerical density of mast cells and eosinophils, or the observed degree of degranulation of mast cells. Although lymphocytes were commonly seen within the airway epithelium and subepithelial regions, infiltration of neutrophils or aggregation of dense and nodular lymphoid tissues were not common in the airways of any sheep. There was no significant difference in the infiltration of neutrophils or the aggregation of lymphocytes and lymphoid tissue in airways between the three groups. These findings indicate that there is an inherent difference in the volume density of lung mast cell granules between hypersensitive and nonreacting sheep but that other inflammatory cells are probably not directly involved in the initial development of allergic airway hypersensitivity in this species.