Bronchial Allergen Challenges in Asthma Research

In the development of new antiallergic or antiasthmatic therapies, mouse models have helped to identify novel therapeutic agents. Before a medication is evaluated for potency in phase II and phase III studies in humans, different bronchial challenge models are used to test the efficacy and mode of action in small sample sizes. Most published trials follow a classical approach in which allergic subjects are challenged with the same amount of allergen before and after treatment with a specific agent. Repeated challenge models are designed either to imitate natural allergen exposure or to induce significant asthma symptoms and airway inflammation. Although the available literature is less abundant, repeated models promise insights into the action of agents and the mechanisms of airway inflammation.