Asthma is characterized by airway inflammation, which can be now assessed by the analysis of induced sputum. Ten patients with asthma were investigated during acute exacerbation for the quantification of apoptosis, for Bcl-2 and Fas expression, in induced sputum lymphocytes. They were compared to 12 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 10 healthy controls. Spontaneous...

objective: the prevalence of respiratory allergies, especially those induced by fungi such as alternaria alternata, has dramatically increased over the past decade. this increase has caused major health problems worldwide. this study aimed to investigate the role of a. alternata in the etiology of allergic asthma, by using the skin prick test and assessment of ige specific to the fungus in the ...

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airways disease that usually begins in early life and involves gene-environment interactions. Although most asthma exhibits allergic inflammation, many allergic individuals do not have asthma. Here, we report how the asthma gene a disintegrin and metalloprotease 33 (ADAM33) acts as local tissue susceptibility gene that promotes allergic asthma. We show that enzy...

BACKGROUND About 5-10% of patients with asthma suffer from poorly controlled disease despite corticosteroid (CS) treatment, which may indicate the presence of CS insensitivity. A study was undertaken to determine whether relative CS insensitivity is present in alveolar macrophages from patients with severe asthma and its association with p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation an...

A review of exercise-induced asthma is presented which describes work that has been carried out by the authors and by other investigators over recent years. The effect of exericse on lung function in asthmatic and normal subjects is compared. The influence of the type and severity of exercise on the response of the asthmatic is noted and the importance this has for interpretation of results. Th...

The small GTPase ras homolog enriched in brain (Rheb) is a downstream target of tuberous sclerosis complex 1/2 (TSC1/2) and an upstream activator of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), the emerging essential modulator of M1/M2 balance in macrophages. However, the role and regulatory mechanisms of Rheb in macrophage polarization and allergic asthma are not known. In the prese...

Defective absorption of acute allergic airway inflammation is involved in the initiation and development chronic asthma. After allergen exposure, there a rapid recruitment macrophages around airways, which promote inflammatory responses. The Ang-(1?7)/Mas receptor axis reportedly plays protective roles various tissue remodeling processes vivo. However, exact role Mas their underlying mechanisms...

background: asthma is the main reason of disability, health resource exploitation and low quality of life for those who are affected. it is estimated that nearly 300 million people in the world are suffering from asthma. studies have identified 18 genomic regions and more than 100 genes associated with asthma. among these candidate genes, il-17f plays a very interesting role in asthma. this stu...

STUDY QUESTION Are women with asthma, and more specifically those with severe or uncontrolled asthma, at higher risk of spontaneous and induced abortions? SUMMARY ANSWER Pregnant women with asthma, notably when uncontrolled, are at higher risk of spontaneous abortion. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Only one study has examined the association between asthma and spontaneous and induced abortions and r...

objective: plantago major (p. major) is one of the medicinal crops in the world which has therapeutic properties for treatment of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. theophylline is commonly used for the treatment of respiratory diseases. in this study, we investigated the protective effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of p. majoron lung in asthmatic male rats. materials and methods: 32 m...