Fig. 6
From: Cerium dioxide nanoparticles exacerbate house dust mite induced type II airway inflammation
Airway structure and lung function assessment after repeat CeO2NPs and HDM exposure. Mice (n = 6–7 per treatment group) were exposed to CeO2NPs at the higher dose (CeHD) (750 μg/kg) with and without HDM (1.25 mg/kg) 9 times over a period of 3 weeks. Lung tissue was fixed and sections processed for Masson’s Trichrome (M.T.) staining (a; Top panels) and immunohistochemical detection of α-sma (a; Middle panels) or PCNA (a; Bottom panels). Representative images are displayed with a scale bar of 100 μm. Mice were also assessed for airway hyperresponsiveness to increasing concentrations of inhaled methacholine aerosol (b-d) using the forced oscillation technique. Respiratory system resistance (Rrs) (b), elastance (Ers) (d) as well as Newtonian resistance (RN) (c) and tissue elastance (H) (e) were calculated within flexivent system software and expressed as mean + SEM cmH2O. Statistical significance between treatments at each concentration of methacholine was carried out using student t-test (* p < 0.05) compared to control group