A variety of proinflammatory cells, mediators, and cytokines orchestrate the development of airway hyperresponsiveness, which results in the episodic airflow obstruction characteristic of asthma. As a consequence, modulation of the underlying disease process with antii-nflammatory agents is firmly established as being the cornerstone of successful management. Inhaled corticosteroids are the most potent antiinflammatory agents available and satisfactorily suppress underlying airway inflammation in most individuals. (more…)
The cysteinyl leukotrienes (LTC 4 , LTD 4 and LTE 4 ) are lipid mediators produced from an arachidonic acid precursor following ...
Antihistamines have been shown to be effective in seasonal allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria. They improve qua ...
In the UK, Europe and the USA, montelukast is licensed for once-daily oral administration in adults and is also available as a ...
Leukotrienes can be found in the airway and urine following both spontaneous exacerbations of asthma and acute exposure to bron ...
Despite optimum drug delivery and good compliance with inhaled corticosteroids, many patients experience symptoms and exacerbat ...
AP-1 is an inducible transcription factor that binds to promoter or enhancer regions of many cytokine genes, often in close association with the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NF-AT). AP-1 is composed of c-fos and c-jun or c-jun/c-jun homodimers. AP-1 binding has been demonstrated as obligatory for NF-AT-mediated cytokine gene acti- vation in many cases. The signal transduction pathway responsible for AP-1 activation involves jun and p38 kinase-activated protein kinase). (more…)
The overlapping functions of cytokines largely reflect the properties of the cell surface receptors to which they bind. All cyt ...
Perhaps the most exciting recent advance in the cytokine signaling field has been the elucidation of the Jak/Stat pathway. The ...
The Ras-dependent pathway can be triggered by a variety of cytokine receptors, as well as by certain adhesion molecules and by ...
The T-bet (T-box 21) gene (TBX21) encodes a transcription factor, T-box expressed in T cells, which has been implicated in asthma t ...
A previous genome-wide screen for mite-sensitive atopic dermatitis asthma in Japanese families indicated linkage to chromosome 5q33 ...