objectives: asthma is a common chronic disease. asthma and anti-asthmatic medications have been suggested as risk factors for increased susceptibility to caries. this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different types and forms of antihistaminic medications and the duration of drug consumption on the severity of dental caries in asthmatic children. materials and methods: this cross-...

The extracellular matrix (ECM) creates the microenvironment of the tissue; an altered ECM in the asthmatic airway may be central in airway inflammation and remodelling. Tumstatin is a collagen IV-derived matrikine reduced in the asthmatic airway wall that reverses airway inflammation and remodelling in small and large animal models of asthma. This study hypothesized that the mechanisms underlyi...

Asthma is characterised by reversible airway obstruction. In most patients, control of disease activity is easily achieved. However, in a small minority, asthma may be fatal. Between the two extremes lie patients with severe asthmatic attacks, refractory to standard treatment. These patients are at an increased risk of recurrent severe attacks, with respiratory failure, and mechanical ventilati...

BACKGROUND Leukotrienes are lipid mediators generated from arachidonic acid by the 5-lipoxygenase pathway which may play an important part in the pathophysiology of asthma. Previous studies have demonstrated attenuation of the allergen-induced early and late asthmatic responses by leukotriene receptor antagonists. The effect of the 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor ZD2138, a non-redox lipoxygenase inhib...

The aim of the present study was to compare, during the pollen season, serum levels of total IgE and soluble CD23 (sCD23) from patients with allergic bronchial asthma, with those from healthy subjects. Significantly higher levels of total IgE and sCD23 were found in patients with asthma compared to the control group. Both in normal controls and in asthmatic patients, a significant correlation w...

BACKGROUND Mitotic synchrony is the synchronous progression of a population of cells through the cell cycle and is characteristic of non-diseased airway epithelial cells. However, we previously showed that asthmatic airway epithelial cells are characterized by mitotic asynchrony and are pro-inflammatory as a result. Glucocorticoids can induce mitotic synchrony that in turn suppresses the pro-in...

RATIONALE This study was designed to examine the relationships among weight, asthma severity, physical activity, and aerobic fitness in children with asthma. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Sixty-four asthmatic children 8 to 12 years old (53% female) were assessed while attending a summer asthma camp. Measures included height and weight, spirometry, histamine bronchial provocation challenge, maximal aer...