'A new study may help in the search for future therapeutic strategies to fight a growing medical problem that currently lacks effective treatments, researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report in the Aug. 29 Nature Immunology.

The prevalence of asthma has been increasing in recent years, according to Marsha Wills-Karp, Ph.D., director of the division of Immunobiology at Cincinnati Children's and the study's senior investigator. The disease can be triggered in susceptible people by a variety of environmental contaminants -- such as cigarette smoke, allergens and airborne pollution.

Dr. Wills-Karp's research team has found a molecular tipping point that upsets a delicate balance between underlying mild disease and more severe asthma. They identify the pro-inflammatory protein, interleukin-17 (IL-17A), as the chief culprit behind severe asthma-like symptoms in mice.

"This study suggests that at some point it may be possible to treat or prevent severe forms of asthma by inhibiting pathways that drive the production of IL-17A," Dr. Wills-Karp said.......'

Read the full report in Science Daily 

Stephane Lajoie et al. Complement-mediated regulation of the IL-17A axis is a central genetic determinant of the severity of experimental allergic asthma. Nature Immunology, 2010

Click here for more research on the possible causes of asthma

First Published in August 2010

Top of page