The respiratory response in sensitized rats to aerosol challenge.

Hooded Lister rats were sensitized to DNP-ovalbumin. These rats showed a significant alteration in respiratory pattern when challenged with DNP-ovalbumin aerosol. The respiratory response was not produced by challenging sensitized rats with intragastric DNP-ovalbumin. The magnitude of the respiratory response did not correlate with the specific IgE concentration in the serum. A similar pattern of respiratory response was inducible in unsensitized rats by intravenous administration of IgE-rich sera.