Department of Dermatology, DIAID, Experimental Allergy Laboratory, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Respir Res. 2011 Aug 25;12(1):114. doi: 10.1186/1465-9921-12-114.
Atopic asthma is a chronic inflammatory pulmonary disease characterised by recurrent episodes of wheezy, laboured breathing with an underlying Th2 cell-mediated inflammatory response in the airways. It is currently treated and, more or less, controlled depending on severity, with bronchodilators e.g. long-acting beta agonists and long-acting muscarinic antagonists or anti-inflammatory drugs such as corticosteroids (inhaled or oral), leukotriene modifiers, theophyline and anti-IgE therapy. Unfortunately, none of these treatments are curative and some asthmatic patients do not respond to intense anti-inflammatory therapies. Additionally, the use of long-term oral steroids has many undesired side effects. For this reason, novel and more effective drugs are needed. In this review, we focus on the CD4+ Th2 cells and their products as targets for the development of new drugs to add to the current armamentarium as adjuncts or as potential stand-alone treatments for allergic asthma. We argue that in early disease, the reduction or elimination of allergen-specific Th2 cells will reduce the consequences of repeated allergic inflammatory responses such as lung remodelling without causing generalised immunosuppression.
特应性哮喘是一种慢性炎症性肺部疾病，其特征是反复出现喘息、呼吸困难，气道内存在 Th2 细胞介导的炎症反应。目前，根据严重程度，通过支气管扩张剂（如长效β激动剂和长效抗胆碱能拮抗剂）或抗炎药物（如皮质类固醇[吸入或口服]、白三烯调节剂、茶碱和抗 IgE 治疗）进行治疗和控制。不幸的是，这些治疗方法都没有治愈作用，一些哮喘患者对强化抗炎治疗没有反应。此外，长期口服类固醇的使用有许多不良副作用。因此，需要新型和更有效的药物。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注 CD4+Th2 细胞及其产物，作为开发新药的靶点，以增加当前的治疗手段，作为过敏性哮喘的辅助治疗或潜在的独立治疗方法。我们认为，在疾病早期，减少或消除过敏原特异性 Th2 细胞将减少反复过敏炎症反应（如肺重塑）的后果，而不会引起全身性免疫抑制。
