Overview of asthma; the place of the T cell.

Abstract

Asthma is an inflammatory disease which is associated with activated T cells in the airway wall. The contribution of the T lymphocyte to inflammation in asthma has been extensively studied through descriptions of T cell subsets in the airway wall of asthmatic patients and from animal and cellular models. Allergy-driven airway disease is mediated primarily by the T helper (Th)2 cell subset. Other subsets, such as Th1, Th17, invariant natural killer T and CD8+ T cells likely contribute to the development, and possibly the progression of established disease. Resolution of inflammation is controlled in part by regulatory T cells. Therapies directed at T cells and their cytokines have been disappointing in asthma despite, in some instances, promising results on allergen challenge. This suggests that the induction of asthma may be T-cell-mediated and allergen-triggered, whereas disease may be sustained and exacerbated by other mechanisms.

• Authors: Karim H Shalaby, James G Martin
• Journal: Current opinion in pharmacology (Curr Opin Pharmacol) Vol. 10 Issue 3 Pg. 218-25 (Jun 2010) ISSN: 1471-4973 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20409757 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Allergens

Topics

• Allergens (immunology)
• Animals
• Asthma (drug therapy, immunology)
• Drug Delivery Systems
• Humans
• Inflammation (drug therapy, etiology, immunology)
• T-Lymphocytes (immunology)
• T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory (immunology)