Evaluation of the effect of a platelet activating factor antagonist on platelet activating factor and Ascaris antigen-induced airway responses in rhesus monkeys.

An acute airway response to aerosolized platelet activating factor (PAF) can be induced in certain rhesus monkeys. This PAF airway response is completely inhibited by the PAF antagonist, SRI 63-441, in normal monkeys. After the completion of these studies showing inhibition of the PAF airway response, we evaluated whether the PAF antagonist could inhibit three types of acute IgE-mediated airway responses to Ascaris suum (A) in rhesus monkeys. The A aerosol test protocols used the following: a single A aerosol challenge system; a threshold dose of A challenge system, which consists of increasing A aerosol exposure until an airway response occurs; and two sequential A challenges in which the response to the second A challenge always occurs if there is a response to the first A challenge. When SRI 63-441 was tested as a potential antagonist of the A airway response in any of these three systems, no inhibition was shown.