Asthma :: essays research papers

asthma attack is a chronic illness that affects many people. Asthma affects slightly 155 million people around the world. The pharmaceutical industry approximates $5.5 billion in sales for asthma medication per year for a condition that is incurable.Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways. The narrowing of airways occurs due to inflammation and excessive mucous secretion. The constriction of the airway gives rise to common asthmatic symptoms of wheezing, coughing, tightness in the chest, and steepness of breath. The usual form of control for asthma is bronchiodilators and corticosteriods.Although, bronchiodilators are used in asthma therapy they have no effect on the inflammatory process. Bronchiodilators are a class of drug that relaxes airway smooth muscle by increasing cAMP and opening potassium channels. Corticosteriods on the other hand are presently considered the first line of treatment for patients with severe and chronic asthma. Corticosteriods bind to a recept or in the cytosol, which translocates to the nucleus and binds DNA to activate genes. The main action of corticosteriods is to terminate multiple inflammatory genes, such as cytokines, inflammatory enzymes and adhesion molecules. The effectiveness of the corticosteriod is in most part due to the inhibition of transcription factors, such as AP-1 ( activation protein 1), Nuclear factor-&61547b (NF-&61547b), and nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NF-AT), which are required for inflammatory response.The Fc&61541RI is the receptor for the IgE antibody. The Fc&61541RI is composed of a &61537 kitchen stove that binds the Fc portion of the IgE, the &61538 chain and the &61543 chain together form a tetrameric structure. Due to the fact that release of mediators from mast cells in asthma is IgE-E dependent one approach would be to block the activation of IgE using blocking antibodies that do not result in mast cells. A humanized murine monoclonal antibody directed to the Fc&61541RI-bindin g domain of human IgE (rhuMAb-E25) reduces allergen circumstantial IgE after intravenous administration. RhuMAb reduces early and late responses to inhaled allergen and eosinophils counts from induced sputum.