A holistic guide to asthma

Abstract

Asthma: Mechanisms and ProtocolsEdited by K. Fan Chung and I. Adcock, Humana Press, 2000. Hardback (341 pages) ISBN 089603626XAsthma – representing one of the most common chronic diseases in the Western world – is characterized by airway inflammation. There is little knowledge about the molecular events predisposing individuals to asthma or about crucial processes of asthma inflammation. It is known that a specific clinical phenotype of asthma is the result of a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors, which lead to cell activation and to the release of soluble inflammatory mediators. Asthma: Mechanisms and Protocols is promoted as the first laboratory manual for asthma research and provides helpful laboratory methods for collecting and culturing lung cells (epithelial cells, fibroblasts, as well as eosinophils and alveolar macrophages). Moreover, the book represents an overview of the different methodological approaches to study the molecular and cellular events in asthma. It provides up-to-date methodologies used to study the phenotype and the function of immunocompetent and bronchial structural cells in the pathophysiology of asthma. Cellular events such as cell activation, adhesion and proliferation are thoroughly explained, and their role in the pathogenesis of asthma appropriately emphasized. Other events involved in the downregulation of the inflammatory phenomenon in asthma, such as apoptosis, are also described. All these phenomena are appropriately linked to each other and the reader is delivered a clear picture of the scenario related to asthma inflammation.This guide also describes methodologies used to detect, both at a genetic and at a protein level, soluble mediators that play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of asthma. The importance of detecting these mediators is related to the ability to monitor the activity and the severity of the disease by using the mentioned methodologies. The final section of the book is dedicated to the analysis of the laboratory methodologies for assessing the cellular and molecular response to anti-asthma treatments. Leading experts describe methods for genotyping β2-adrenoceptor and glucocorticoid receptor polymorphisms. Great opportunities exist in the new millennium for the development of new drugs, and for increasing the responsiveness to current anti-asthma drugs. The efficacy, selectivity and safety of both strategies are likely to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms and the genetic basis for efficacy and safety among individuals. The present book provides a detailed and comprehensive approach to the methodologies used to assess all these issues. Asthma: Mechanisms and Protocols offers much to readers who want to understand the complexity of asthma pathogenesis and provides a complete and up-to-date collection of standardized cellular, biochemical, molecular and genetic methods for a better understanding of the effects of the drugs for the treatment of asthma.