Toll-like receptors (TLRs) act as receptors for numerous stimuli of immune cells, including bacterial cell wall constituents (lipopolysaccharide [LPS] from Gram-negative bacteria and lipopeptides from Gram-positive species), plasma proteins and extracellular matrix breakdown products. TLR2 and TLR4 bind lipopeptide and LPS respectively, mediating responses of alveolar macrophages and other immune cells to bacterial infection in the lungs. Exposure of lungs to LPS leads to pro-inflammatory responses of a number of cell types, including airway smooth muscle, which secretes a number of cytokines involved in leucocyte recruitment and the Th2 polarization of immune responses. Human airway smooth muscle cells were cultured with LPS in the absence and presence of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to determine direct and leucocyte-dependent TLR-mediated responses. (more…)
One especially favored target for immune recognition is bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This macromolecule is found only in ...
Airway hyper-responsiveness in asthma may involve smooth muscle growth, a manifestation of airway remodelling. The involvement ...
Innate immunity depends on both resident and recruited leukocytes. The macrophage without doubt plays an import- ant role in the de ...
Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter of the nerve vagus, the functional effects mediated by binding to muscarinic receptors. Results ...
Eosinophil infiltration of the mucosa is a feature of asthmatic airways. Their adhesion to bronchial epithelial cells has been ...
In the UK, Europe and the USA, montelukast is licensed for once-daily oral administration in adults and is also available as a cherry flavored pink tablet or as granules for use in children over the age of 6 months. Zafirlukast is licensed for use in individuals over 12 years of age (Fig above). In some countries such as Japan, another leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA), pranlukast, is available for use. In the USA, zileuton is licensed for use in those over 12 years of age (Table below). (more…)
Leukotrienes can be found in the airway and urine following both spontaneous exacerbations of asthma and acute exposure to bron ...
Current internationally recognized guidelines indicate that symptomatic asthmatics using a low to medium inhaled corticosteroid ...
A variety of proinflammatory cells, mediators, and cytokines orchestrate the development of airway hyperresponsiveness, which r ...
Despite optimum drug delivery and good compliance with inhaled corticosteroids, many patients experience symptoms and exacerbat ...
Roflumilast is an oral, once-daily PDE4 inhibitor with antiinflammatory activity in development for the treatment of asthma. Ro ...
Negative family characteristics such as family conflict and family dysfunction discriminated children who died of asthma from children with equally severe asthma who did not die. Parenting difficulties have been associated with a higher risk for the development of asthma early in life. In addition, children with the highest risk of developing early-onset asthma were those in families with both parenting problems and high stress. Evidence for a asthma and stress link has been demonstrated through temporal studies, as experiencing an acute negative life event increased children’s risk for an asthma attack 4 to 6 weeks after the occurrence of the event. (more…)
Learning to relax is important not only to release tension or stress but can ease your sinus and help you to copy with it. True rel ...
The two strongest risk factors for asthma in childhood are a family history and immediate hypersensitivity to common allergens. ...
Asthma is a frightening condition. I have lived with asthma symptoms for 17 years and the thought of an allergy induced asthma atta ...
Acupuncture for acne, psoriasis, allergies and related conditions is the current interest of several study groups, to investigate a ...
The genetic basis of asthma heritability has been extensively studied and the studies are yielding some understanding. There is ...
Histamine is a low-molecular-weight monoamine that binds to four different G-protein-coupled receptors, and has recently been demonstrated to regulate several essential events in the immune response. The histamine receptor type 2 (HR2) is coupled to adenylate cyclase and studies in different species and several human cells have demonstrated that inhibition of characteristic features of the cells by primarily cAMP formation dominates in HR2-dependent effects of histamine. (more…)
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunc ...
The precise mechanisms underlying the effects of Specific Immunotherapy are not well understood but several studies have shown ...
The specific treatment of allergy has previously relied upon allergen avoidance and sublingual immunotherapy. These approaches have ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy aims to correct the underlying immune imbalance associated with specific immunotherapy allergic rhi ...
The immunologic mechanisms of sublingual immunotherapy are less established. In Cochrane analysis, the authors concluded that t ...
The immunologic mechanisms of sublingual immunotherapy are less established. In Cochrane analysis, the authors concluded that there was an increase in IgG4 but no stable effect on IgE levels in adults. In addition, the induction of allergen-specific IgA has been reported. There are conflicting data concerning lympho-proliferative responses. So far the evidence on changes in Th1/Th2/Treg activity induced by sublingual immunotherapy need to be confirmed. The effects on T-cell reactivity and cytokine secretion show strong variation in a number of studies. (more…)
Allergen-specific immunotherapy aims to correct the underlying immune imbalance associated with specific immunotherapy allergic rhi ...
The precise mechanisms underlying the effects of Specific Immunotherapy are not well understood but several studies have shown ...
The increasing prevalence of allergic disease in the Western world has led to the concept of the ‘allergic march’ to describe t ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunc ...
Histamine is a low-molecular-weight monoamine that binds to four different G-protein-coupled receptors, and has recently been d ...
The intracellular forkhead winged transcription factor Foxp3 (forkhead box P3) appears to be specifically expressed by naturally occurring Treg cells, particularly in mice, although in humans there is evidence of upregulation of Foxp3 in all T cells on activation. Foxp3 is required for the development and function of naturally occurring regulatory t cells (treg) and expression is sufficient to convert non-regulatory CD4+CD25T cells into cells with regulatory activity. Conversion of peripheral CD4+CD25 naive T cells to Foxp3+CD4+CD25 foxp3+ Treg cells can be induced by TGF-ß. In a murine asthma model, these TGF-ß-induced Treg prevented house-dust mite-induced allergic pathogenesis or infection pathogenesis in lungs. A single independent report has suggested that IL-4 and IL-13 also induce Foxp3+CD25+ Treg from CD4+CD25precursors. (more…)
Regulatory T cells Treg (picture above) is the existence of suppressor cells, which limit ongoing immune responses and prevent ...
An emerging concept is that pro-inflammatory signals lead to loss of Regulatory T Cells (Treg) function. Pasare and Medzhitov ( ...
Treg cells or regulatory T cells constitute a large population of cellular infiltrate in atopic/allergic inflammation and a dys ...
The induction of immune tolerance and specific immune suppression are essential processes in the control of immune responses. R ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunc ...
The cysteinyl leukotrienes (LTC 4 , LTD 4 and LTE 4 ) are lipid mediators produced from an arachidonic acid precursor following a series of enzymatic steps. Arachidonic acid is firstly released from the phospholipid bilayer by phospholipase A 2 and may be metabolized by either the cyclooxygenase (COX) or 5-lipoxygenase pathway. Once the unstable precursor LTA 4 has been produced, it may be converted in neutrophils or monocytes to the noncysteinyl LTB 4 by LTA 4 hydrolase. In mast cells, eosinophils, macrophages, and basophils, LTA 4 may alternatively be converted into LTC 4 by LTC 4 synthase and subsequently into LTD 4 and LTE 4. (more…)
The prevalence of aspirin-sensitive asthma is uncertain although it may exist in up to 20% of all asthmatics patients. The char ...
Some features seem to be common to severe asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with reversibility of airflow limita ...
A variety of proinflammatory cells, mediators, and cytokines orchestrate the development of airway hyperresponsiveness, which r ...
Leukotrienes are present in increased amounts in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in patients with asthma. So far, no data have ...
Two main strategies have been developed to block the effects of cysteinyl leukotrienes in the airway. One method is to use drug ...
Some of the immediate sequelae of injury are uncomfortably familiar: Soon after an injury occurs, the affected site and its surrounding tissues become reddened, warm, swollen, and painful. These four signs which are probably the most useful and ubiquitous diagnostic clues in all of clinical medicine are hallmarks of acute inflammation, the body’s initial physiologic reaction to tissue distress. In its simplest form, inflammation is a response carried out by blood vessels and by the endothelial cells that line them. (more…)
The response to injury usually begins with dilatation of small blood vessels in and around the injured site (figure bellow). Th ...
Once it is tethered onto the venule wall, the neutrophil or other leukocyte comes into contact with a wide variety of inflammatory ...
Acute inflammatory response constitute the first line of defense against infection pathogenesis and how immune system works as ...
Nearly all tissues, organs, and serosal cavities harbor a population of resident phagocytes. Most contain only a diffuse scattering ...
Innate immune responses are seen in a very broad range of tissues. Indeed, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs, one of the most important ...
Some features seem to be common to severe asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with reversibility of airflow limitation. The neutrophil chemoattractant leukotriene B 4 (LTB 4) may play a role in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and in some forms of asthma. In this study, 55 smokers with no disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (with or without bronchodilator reversibility of airflow limitation) or asthma underwent measurement of LTB 4 in sputum supernatants and exhaled breath condensate asthma (EBC). Both Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and asthma patients had higher levels of LTB 4 than control subjects; patients with asthma or reversible Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease exhibited significantly higher levels of LTB 4 than those with irreversible Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. (more…)
Leukotrienes are present in increased amounts in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in patients with asthma. So far, no data have ...
The cysteinyl leukotrienes (LTC 4 , LTD 4 and LTE 4 ) are lipid mediators produced from an arachidonic acid precursor following ...
A role for Leukotriene B4 in the induction of airway hyper-responsiveness was explored through the use of transgenic mice defic ...
Adjusting the inhaled glucocorticoid dose based on indices of airway inflammation has been proposed as a means of achieving more ef ...
With the help of well-trained and experienced pulmonary function technicians, children as young as 4 to 5 years of age should b ...
Roflumilast is an oral, once-daily inhibitor of phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) that prevents the breakdown of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels, leading to inhibition of pro-inflammatory signalling. This study investigated the effects of repeated doses of 250 or 500 µg of roflumilast on airway asthma responses to allergen. (more…)
Roflumilast is an oral, once-daily PDE4 inhibitor with antiinflammatory activity in development for the treatment of asthma. Ro ...
Marimastat is a synthetic broad-spectrum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor. This study assessed the anti-inflammatory effect ...
Treating allergic rhinitis may have a downstream effect on concomitant asthma and this may be due to attenuation of the underlying ...
Tumour Necrosis Factor is a pro-inflammatory cytokine implicated in the pathogenesis of asthmatic airway inflammation, hyper-react ...
Despite optimum drug delivery and good compliance with inhaled corticosteroids, many patients experience symptoms and exacerbat ...