Monoclonal antibody therapy in the treatment of asthmatic Rats

Monoclonal antibody therapy in the treatment of asthmatic Rats
Seyed Mohammadreza Bolandi,¹ Zohreh Abdolmaleki,^2,* Mohammad-Ali Assarehzadegan,³
1. Department of pharmacology, Faculty of veterinary medicine, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Alborz, Iran
2. Department of pharmacology, Faculty of veterinary medicine, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Alborz, Iran
3. Immunology Research Center, Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Introduction: Bevacizumab (Avastin) is a humanized anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibody for cancer therapy‏. This drug can reduce the level of VEGF and has been widely used to treat various cancers, and Lung diseases such as COPD. Therefore the aim of this study was consider the effects of Bevacizumab on receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and lung inflammation of ovalbumin-induced rat.
Methods: Twenty one male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=7 in each): 1) control, 2) ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized and 3) OVA-sensitized with Bevacizumab (OVA+Bmab). Two and three groups were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) and aluminum hydroxide at day 1, 8 and challenged with OVA at day 15 by atomization for 10 days (inhalation). After OVA sensitization the OVA+Bmab treated with Bevacizumab for 2 weeks. VEGFR2 was semiquantitatively analyzed in lungs by immunohistochemistry. The gene expression of IL-10 was measured by real time PCR.
Results: Ovalbumin exposure promoted the expression of VEGF and result in inflammatory factors overexertion (p≤0.05). However, rats in OVA+Bmab group showed significantly decrease in VEGFR2 and significantly increased in IL-10 (p≤0.05).
Conclusion: The results show that Bevacizumab efficiently diminishes bronchial inflammation via reduced expression of VEGFR2 and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10). Regarding the effectiveness of Bevacizumab, it seems that these FDA approved drug Bevacizumab has potential therapeutic value for controlling asthma disease.
Keywords: Bevacizumab; Asthma; VEGF; IL-10