Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.  2010 Oct;2(4):228-234. 10.4168/aair.2010.2.4.228.

Immunomodulators for Asthma

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA. tbcasale@creighton.edu

Abstract

New information regarding the molecular mechanisms of allergic disorders has led to a variety of novel therapeutic approaches. This article briefly reviews the pathogenesis of asthma and allergic diseases, discusses the rationale behind using immunomodulators in these diseases; and examines the therapeutic effects of immunomodulators on allergic diseases. There are a number of immunomodulators that have been developed for the treatment of allergic disorders. Some have looked very promising in pre-clinical trials, but have not shown significant benefits in human clinical trials thus indicating the disparity between mouse models and human asthma. This review focuses on immunomodulators that are in human clinical trials and not molecules in pre-clinical development.

Keyword

Asthma; immunomodulators; cytokines; treatment

MeSH Terms

Animals
Asthma
Cytokines
Humans
Immunologic Factors
Mice
Cytokines
Immunologic Factors

Figure

  • Figure Asthma pathogenesis adapted from Casale et al.25


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