How influenza drives asthma

Recomendado pela AMICOR Maria Inês Reinert Azambuja

By Megan Scudellari

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Specialized cells of the innate immune system, identified in the lungs for the first time, play a central role in virus-induced asthma

[Published 29th May 2011 05:00 PM GMT]

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Viral respiratory infection causes severe asthma attacks in almost all patients with asthma -- a reaction classically attributed to T cells of the adaptive immune system. Now, scientists have identified a pathway in mice by which a subset of innate immune cells, found in mammalian lungs for the first time, orchestrate influenza-induced asthma.

Influenza A virus  Source: CDC

The discovery, published online today in Nature Immunology, suggests the innate immune system, and not just the adaptive immune system, triggers asthma attacks after viral infections. The cells, plus a newly identified pathway by which the cells are activated, could provide novel targets for therapies to control viral-induced asthma attacks, which fail to respond to conventional asthma medications, the authors write. /.../. 

Read more: How influenza drives asthma - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/58184/#ixzz1NneVRWZN