Shum Bennett O V, Rolph Michael S, Sewell William A
Immunology and Inflammation Research Program, Garvan Institute for Medical Research, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia.
Expert Rev Mol Med. 2008 May 27;10:e15. doi: 10.1017/S1462399408000707.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, involving recurrent episodes of airway obstruction and wheezing. A common pathological feature in asthma is the presence of a characteristic allergic airway inflammatory response involving extensive leukocyte infiltration, mucus overproduction and airway hyper-reactivity. The pathogenesis of allergic airway inflammation is complex, involving multiple cell types such as T helper 2 cells, regulatory T cells, eosinophils, dendritic cells, mast cells, and parenchymal cells of the lung. The cellular response in allergic airway inflammation is controlled by a broad range of bioactive mediators, including IgE, cytokines and chemokines. The asthmatic allergic inflammatory response has been a particular focus of efforts to develop novel therapeutic agents. Animal models are widely used to investigate inflammatory mechanisms. Although these models are not perfect replicas of clinical asthma, such studies have led to the development of numerous novel therapeutic agents, of which some have already been successful in clinical trials.
哮喘是一种气道慢性炎症性疾病，表现为反复发作的气道阻塞和喘息。哮喘的一个常见病理特征是存在特征性的过敏性气道炎症反应，包括广泛的白细胞浸润、黏液过度产生和气道高反应性。过敏性气道炎症的发病机制很复杂，涉及多种细胞类型，如辅助性T细胞2型、调节性T细胞、嗜酸性粒细胞、树突状细胞、肥大细胞以及肺实质细胞。过敏性气道炎症中的细胞反应受多种生物活性介质控制，包括免疫球蛋白E、细胞因子和趋化因子。哮喘的过敏性炎症反应一直是开发新型治疗药物的特别关注焦点。动物模型被广泛用于研究炎症机制。尽管这些模型并非临床哮喘的完美复制品，但此类研究已促成众多新型治疗药物的开发，其中一些已在临床试验中取得成功。
