Expert
Reviews in Molecular Medicine: http://www.expertreviews.org/
DOI: 10.1017/S1462399408000707; 27 May 2008
Bennett
O.V. Shum, Michael S. Rolph and William A. Sewell (2008) Mechanisms in allergic
airway inflammation – lessons from studies in the mouse. Expert Rev. Mol. Med.
Vol. 10, e15, DOI: 10.1017/S1462399408000707
Mechanisms in
allergic airway inflammation – lessons from studies in the mouse
Bennett O.V. Shum a1
a2, Michael S. Rolph a1 a2 and William A. Sewell
a1 a3 c1
a1 Immunology
and Inflammation Research Program, Garvan Institute for Medical Research, Darlinghurst,
New South Wales, Australia.
a2 CRC for Asthma and Airways, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
a3 St
Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales,
Sydney, Australia.
c1 Corresponding
author: William Sewell, Immunology and Inflammation Research Program, Garvan
Institute for Medical Research, 384 Victoria St, Darlinghurst, New South Wales
2010, Australia. Tel: +61 2 9295 8434; Fax: +61 2 9295 8404; E-mail: w.sewell@garvan.org.au
Asthma
is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, involving recurrent episodes
of airway obstruction and wheezing. A common pathological feature in asthma
is the presence of a characteristic allergic airway inflammatory response involving
extensive leukocyte infiltration, mucus overproduction and airway hyper-reactivity.
The pathogenesis of allergic airway inflammation is complex, involving multiple
cell types such as T helper 2 cells, regulatory T cells, eosinophils, dendritic
cells, mast cells, and parenchymal cells of the lung. The cellular response
in allergic airway inflammation is controlled by a broad range of bioactive
mediators, including IgE, cytokines and chemokines. The asthmatic allergic inflammatory
response has been a particular focus of efforts to develop novel therapeutic
agents. Animal models are widely used to investigate inflammatory mechanisms.
Although these models are not perfect replicas of clinical asthma, such studies
have led to the development of numerous novel therapeutic agents, of which some
have already been successful in clinical trials.
Full
text online (purchase or subscribe through
Cambridge Journals Online)
| home
| search | glossary
| links | sitemap
| contact |
Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine © Cambridge
University Press ISSN 1462-3994 (Disclaimer and copyright)
Editorial Office: Centre for Applied Research
in Educational Technologies (CARET), 1st Floor, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge,
CB2 1SB, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1223 765 375; Fax: +44(0)1223 765 505; E-mail: ermm@caret.cam.ac.uk
