Animal models of asthma play a central role in mechanistic studies into the
pathophysiology of asthma. However, asthma is a uniquely human disease that remains
poorly understood, and which has so far resisted attempts to reproduce all its
complexities faithfully in an animal. Nevertheless, the key asthma phenotypic features
of airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation have been recapitulated in a number
of animal species, most commonly through immune sensitization and challenge with a
foreign protein in order to produce an allergic inflammatory reaction in the lungs. The
mouse has become the most commonly used species to model asthma in this fashion
because of its obvious advantages related to cost, gestation period, and the wide range
of biological manipulations it can be subjected to. Until recently, the small size of the
mouse made assessing its lung physiology a challenge, but modern imaging
methodologies coupled with the forced oscillation technique for measuring lung
mechanical function now make it possible to phenotype mice in detail. This has
significantly advanced our understanding of the immunological, genetic and
physiological mechanisms of asthma pathogenesis, particularly as they relate to airways
hyperresponsiveness.
Keywords: Airways hyperresponsiveness, airway smooth muscle, allergic
inflammation, forced oscillation technique, immunology, impedance,
inflammatory cells lung function, mouse model, unrestrained plethysmography.
