MONTELUKAST

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways of the lungs, characterised by bronchoconstriction, mucus hypersecretion, and infiltration of inflammatory cells. Standard asthma therapies such as salbutamol, montelukast and prednisolone are effective in alleviating symptoms, yet their histological impact on lung tissue remains incompletely understood. This study evaluated the effects of salbutamol, montelukast and prednisolone on lung tissue histology in Ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic female Sprague-Dawley rats. Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups (n=8); negative control, positive control, salbutamol treated, montelukast treated and prednisolone treated. Asthma was induced in Groups 2–5 using a modified ovalbumin (OVA) protocol. Rats were sensitized via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of 1 mg OVA emulsified in 20 mg aluminium hydroxide on days 1 and 7. From day 14, sensitized rats were challenged by exposure to aerosolized 1% OVA solution for 15 minutes per session, twice weekly for 28 days. After confirmation of asthma treatment, at end of the experiment, lungs were excised, fixed in 10% formalin, sectioned, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Histological changes were assessed using light microscopy at 400x magnification. The negative control group exhibited normal pulmonary architecture with intact bronchi and alveolar sacs. The OVAinduced positive control group showed hyperplasia of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) and follicular bronchiolitis. In contrast, lungs from rats treated with salbutamol, montelukast, and prednisolone demonstrated preserved histoarchitecture with minimal inflammatory infiltration and normal alveolar and bronchial structures, comparable to those of the control group. Conclusion: Treatment with salbutamol, montelukast, or prednisolone effectively ameliorated histopathological alterations associated with OVA-induced asthma in female Sprague-Dawley rats. These findings confirm the protective and restorative effects of these drugs on lung tissue integrity in experimental asthma.