Inflammatory processes and bronchial hyperresponsiveness.
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Asthma↗
Biomedical subjects
W Roche
Publications and source records attributed to W Roche.
Allergic inflammation and its pharmacological modulation in asthma.
While most asthma occurs in association with atopy, the relationship of this to clinical expression of the disease is not clearly understood. Allergen provocation causes an immediate bronchoconstriction (early asthmatic reaction) due to the release of mast-cell-derived histamine, prostaglandin D2 and leukotriene C4. The late reaction and attendent increase in bronchial responsiveness are associated with eosinophil influx, activation and mediator secretion, resulting in mucosal swelling in addition to smooth muscle contraction. Endobronchial biopsy and broncho-alveolar lavage have provided compelling evidence that both mast cells and eosinophils contribute to disordered airway function in 'clinical' asthma and that these cells are under the control of T lymphocytes. Topical corticosteroids which produce beneficial clinical effects probably do so by inhibiting those factors that maintain mast cell and eosinophil populations and their enhanced activation. The most likely contenders for these regulatory functions are the cytokines, particularly interleukin-3, -4 and -5.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
The need for a pathological classification of asthma.
Historically, asthma has been described in functional terms as reversible airways obstruction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Whilst there is no agreed definition of asthma, studies involving bronchoalveolar lavage and endobronchial biopsy are highlighting inflammatory processes as an essential component of the disorder. With the success already achieved in quantifying mast cells, neutrophils, eosinophils, T-cells, monocytes and fibroblasts in the bronchial mucosa it should be possible to investigate the cellular basis of asthma, both in relation to clinical patterns of disease and their response to treatment. With such information it may well be possible that a definition of asthma could be arrived at based on pathology rather than function alone.
Asthma↗
Inflammatory processes in bronchial asthma.
Bronchial asthma is an inflammatory disease. The characteristic pathological features of epithelial cell loss, goblet cell hyperplasia, increased deposition of collagen beneath the basement membrane, mast cell degranulation, and inflammatory cell infiltration of the mucosa are not limited to fatal asthma. Similar inflammatory events have been observed in subjects who would be considered to have clinically stable asthma. These observations would suggest that pharmacological treatment directed against the underlying inflammatory processes in asthma should not be limited to those patients with severe forms of the disease.
Animals↗