Montelukast--place in therapy.

H ly , the s tructural and functional differences within the respiratory tract have served as the basis for separating the airway into upper and lower components. As such, asthma and allergic rhinitis have been diagnosed and managed by clinicians as distinct upper and lower airway diseases, respectively. Consistent with this idea of distinct diseases, researchers have developed drugs in years past for specific treatment of either asthma or allergic rhinitis. However, during the past decade, the focus of study has shifted to the role of the arachidonic acid metabolic pathway and other inflammatory mediators in the pathophysiology and treatment of upper and lower airway disease. Recent advances in inflammatory mediators have prompted members of the medical and scientific communities to recognise asthma and allergic rhinitis as being a continuum of inflammation within one common airway.1 Leukotrienes (LTC4, LTD4, LTE4) are important proinflammatory mediators in asthma. They are appropriately named as the leukotrienes are produced by leucocytes and their chemical structure contains three double bonds, a triene. These eicosanoids are derived from the Montelukast Place in Therapy