A role for Leukotriene B4 in the induction of airway hyper-responsiveness was explored through the use of transgenic mice deficient in the BLT1 receptor for LTB4 . Ovalbumin challenge of sensitized wild-type mice resulted in the usual features of experimental asthma, including goblet cell hyperplasia, hyper-responsiveness to inhaled methacholine and elevated BAL fluid concentrations of the Th2 cytokine IL-13. In contrast, BLT1 –/– mice (i.e. genetically modified mice lacking the gene coding for the BLT1 receptor) exhibited significantly lower responses. BLT1 –/– mice also exhibited lower numbers of IL-13-positive T lymphocytes of both the helper (CD4 T Cells) and cytotoxic/suppressor (CD8 + ) types. (more…)
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), originally described as a vascular permeability factor generating tissue oedema, has be ...
Airway hyper-responsiveness in asthma may involve smooth muscle growth, a manifestation of airway remodelling. The involvement ...
IgE plays an important role in allergic asthma. Reducing IgE in the airway mucosa should reduce airway inflammation. Omalizumab has ...
Some features seem to be common to severe asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with reversibility of airflow limita ...
Antihistamines have been shown to be effective in seasonal allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria. They improve qua ...
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 ...
Once it is tethered onto the venule wall, the neutrophil or other leukocyte comes into contact with a wide variety of inflammatory mediators that may either be expressed by the activated endothelium or simply diffuse into the blood from the injured tissue. Among these mediators are a diverse subset of intermediaries known as leukocyte chemotactic factors which bind to receptors on the leukocyte surface and trigger the second, activation phase of margination. (more…)
Neutrophils make up an army of more-or-less identical circulating phagocytes that are poised to respond quickly and in vast numbers ...
Nearly all tissues, organs, and serosal cavities harbor a population of resident phagocytes. Most contain only a diffuse scattering ...
Acute inflammatory response constitute the first line of defense against infection pathogenesis and how immune system works as ...
Some of the immediate sequelae of injury are uncomfortably familiar: Soon after an injury occurs, the affected site and its sur ...
Although it is commonly imagined that hematopoiesis takes place in a liquid environment resembling the blood, with progenitors resp ...
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 ...
Asthma is a continuing problem for healthcare, particularly in the industrialized world. Some 150 million people are estimated to suffer from asthma worldwide, with 5.2 million sufferers in the UK. Hospital admissions for asthma number 69 000 per annum in the UK, including 28 500 children. Approximately 1400 people die from asthma in the UK annually, of whom over 30% are under the age of 65. Asthma costs the UK National Health Service almost £90 million per annum (statistics from Asthma UK, http://www.asthma.org.uk). (more…)
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), originally described as a vascular permeability factor generating tissue oedema, has be ...
Airway hyper-responsiveness in asthma may involve smooth muscle growth, a manifestation of airway remodelling. The involvement ...
Airway remodelling is considered to be of major importance in the pathology of asthma, with subepithelial basement membrane thi ...
Contact of pathogens with the innate immune system will most frequently occur at epithelia, and the biology of the airway epitheliu ...
Some features seem to be common to severe asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with reversibility of airflow limita ...