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Cytokine Expression in Asthma

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Book cover Molecular Biology of the Lung

Part of the book series: Respiratory Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy ((RPP))

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Abstract

Asthma is a disease characterized clinically by reversible obstruction of the airways, or bronchi, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness, which indicates the tendency of the bronchi in asthmatic patients to constrict in response to a wide range of specific and non-specific stimuli. It is now widely accepted that chronic inflammation of the bronchial mucosal lining plays a fundamental role in the genesis of these clinical manifestations. The most striking feature of this inflammation is the intense infiltration of the bronchial mucosa with eosinophils, macrophages and lymphocytes [1]. In this chapter, how cytokine and chemokine products of activated T cells have the propensity to bring about this selective eosinophil accumulation and activation is described. The eosinophil, in turn, appears to be a key cell in producing injury to the bronchial mucosa, which is believed to result in bronchial obstruction and irritability, although the precise mechanisms by which this occurs are not clear.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK

    C. J. Corrigan

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  1. Department of Respiratory Medicine, University Hospital Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TH, UK

    Robert A. Stockley

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Corrigan, C.J. (1999). Cytokine Expression in Asthma. In: Stockley, R.A. (eds) Molecular Biology of the Lung. Respiratory Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8784-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8784-7_5

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-9773-0

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