Leukotrienes can be found in the airway and urine following both spontaneous exacerbations of asthma and acute exposure to bronchoconstrictor stimuli in the laboratory. This in turn indicates that they may have a role in the pathogenesis of acute episodes of bronchoconstriction. Although antileukotrienes are not currently advocated in the management of acute asthma, there are data to suggest that they might be of some potential benefit. Prior treatment with montelukast asthma has been shown in several studies to significantly shorten the time taken to recover (in terms of FEV 1 ) following exposure to a bronchoconstrictor stimulus. (more…)
Despite optimum drug delivery and good compliance with inhaled corticosteroids, many patients experience symptoms and exacerbat ...
Current internationally recognized guidelines indicate that symptomatic asthmatics using a low to medium inhaled corticosteroid ...
The prevalence of aspirin-sensitive asthma is uncertain although it may exist in up to 20% of all asthmatics patients. The char ...
Montelukast has proven efficacy in the treatment of chronic asthma and seasonal allergic rhinitis, but it has not been evaluate ...
The guidelines for asthma management recommend the use of regular inhaled corticosteroid in patients with mild persistent asthma, b ...
Treg cells or regulatory T cells constitute a large population of cellular infiltrate in atopic/allergic inflammation and a dysregulated immune response appears to be an important pathogenetic factor. Cardinal events during allergic inflammation can be classified as activation, organ-selective homing, survival and reactivation, and effector functions of immune system cells. T cells are activated by aeroallergens, food antigens, autoantigens, and bacterial exotoxins superantigens in allergic inflammation. They are under the influence of the skin, lung, or nose-related chemokine network and show organ-selective homing. (more…)
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunc ...
The induction of immune tolerance and specific immune suppression are essential processes in the control of immune responses. R ...
The intracellular forkhead winged transcription factor Foxp3 (forkhead box P3) appears to be specifically expressed by naturall ...
An emerging concept is that pro-inflammatory signals lead to loss of Regulatory T Cells (Treg) function. Pasare and Medzhitov ( ...
Regulatory T cells Treg (picture above) is the existence of suppressor cells, which limit ongoing immune responses and prevent ...
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 ...
Regulatory T cells Treg (picture above) is the existence of suppressor cells, which limit ongoing immune responses and prevent autoimmune disease, was postulated over 30 years ago. The recent phenotypic and functional characterization of these cells has led to a resurgence of interest in their therapeutic application in a number of immune-mediated diseases. Two broad subsets of CD3+CD4+ suppressive or Treg cells have been described: constitutive or naturally occurring versus adaptive or inducible Treg. (more…)
An emerging concept is that pro-inflammatory signals lead to loss of Regulatory T Cells (Treg) function. Pasare and Medzhitov ( ...
The intracellular forkhead winged transcription factor Foxp3 (forkhead box P3) appears to be specifically expressed by naturall ...
The induction of immune tolerance and specific immune suppression are essential processes in the control of immune responses. R ...
Treg cells or regulatory T cells constitute a large population of cellular infiltrate in atopic/allergic inflammation and a dys ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunc ...
The induction of immune tolerance and specific immune suppression are essential processes in the control of immune responses. Regulatory T cells (Treg) play a central role in immune control in the periphery. Two broad categories of Treg have been described: naturally occurring Treg that are present in all individuals and antigen-induced Treg that secrete inhibitory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-10 and/or transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß. (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 intracellular forkhead winged transcription factor Foxp3 (forkhead box P3) appears to be specifically expressed by naturall ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunc ...
Other humoral effectors and humoral factors have the ability to lyse microorganisms directly. The best studied of these are a class of small peptide antibiotics known as defensins, which in their active forms are all roughly 30 amino acids long (3,5 kilodaltons), positively charged, and protease-resistant. Each also has three internal disulfide bonds. They are classified as either α or β defensins based on the arrangement of the disulfides, but both classes have nearly the same compact, folded structure consisting of three strands of antiparallel β-pleated sheets. (more…)
Contact of pathogens with the innate immune system will most frequently occur at epithelia, and the biology of the airway epitheliu ...
The body's innate resistance to many pathogens is provided by enzymes and other proteins in the blood and tissue fluids. These ...
Innate immune responses are seen in a very broad range of tissues. Indeed, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs, one of the most important ...
While our primary concern is the impact that the innate immune system has on allergic disease, it is essential to recognize that al ...
A few of the best known humoral effectors of innate immunity are listed in Table 1 bellow, along with the types of target molec ...
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 ...
The body’s innate resistance to many pathogens is provided by enzymes and other proteins in the blood and tissue fluids. These proteins are the effectors (ie, the active agents) of humoral innate immunity, and they have features in common with one another that are also characteristics of the innate immune system as a whole. First, these proteins are continually expressed throughout life, regardless of whether or not their protective effects are needed at a given moment. Second, although many of these proteins can be produced in higher quantities in times of need, their intrinsic properties (eg, substrate specificity and ige binding affinity) never change: The characteristics of these proteins have been shaped by evolution, are genetically determined, and are fixed at birth, so that they do not vary during an individual’s lifetime. (more…)
A few of the best known humoral effectors of innate immunity are listed in Table 1 bellow, along with the types of target molec ...
Contact of pathogens with the innate immune system will most frequently occur at epithelia, and the biology of the airway epitheliu ...
Innate immune responses are seen in a very broad range of tissues. Indeed, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs, one of the most important ...
An especially elaborate and important type of innate antimicrobial enzymes defense is provided by a group of serum proteins tha ...
Other humoral effectors and humoral factors have the ability to lyse microorganisms directly. The best studied of these are a c ...
The process by which blood cells grow, divide, and differentiate in the bone marrow is called hematopoiesis. Three general classes of cells are produced:
(1) red blood cells (erythrocytes), responsible for oxygen transport;
(2) platelets, responsible for the control of bleeding; and
(3) white blood cells (leukocytes), the vast majority of which are involved in host defense. (more…)
Our understanding of hematopoiesis has advanced greatly in recent years with the isolation and characterization of hematopoietic st ...
Although it is commonly imagined that hematopoiesis takes place in a liquid environment resembling the blood, with progenitors resp ...
Neutrophils make up an army of more-or-less identical circulating phagocytes that are poised to respond quickly and in vast numbers ...
The Ras-dependent pathway can be triggered by a variety of cytokine receptors, as well as by certain adhesion molecules and by ...
Hematopoietic progenitors depend on a variety of cytokines to control their growth and differentiation. These include several d ...
The final stage of the disease process (although it may not be the final stage of the infection) is the actual production of disease. Many microorganisms live in or on the body without causing disease. These organisms are called commensal organisms and may be beneficial to the host: the production of lactic and lactobacilli proprionic acidophilus in the vagina inhibits the growth of many other bacteria and many commensal organisms compete with pathogens for ‘living space’ in the gut. Microbial pathogens differ in that they cause dis- ease by one or more mechanisms like picture bellow. These include the following: (more…)
There are thousands of components to the immune system, and during the course of learning about some of these it can appear tha ...
Most initial infections are local, i.e. the infectious agent gains entry to the body at a single site, e.g. via an insect bite ...
There are several pathogen types that can cause disease include many groups of single-celled microorganisms and larger multicel ...
Routes by which infectious organisms gain entry into the body include the skin, respiratory tract, gastro-intestinal (GI) tract ...
Exotoxins are secreted products, usually of bacteria but sometimes protozoa and fungi. They can act in a number of ways: • ...