New Findings on the Role of Inflammation in Allergic Disease at

Press Release:

New Findings on the Role of Inflammation in Allergic Disease at 2005 AAAAI Annual Meeting

Press Release
News Article March 2005

SAN ANTONIO, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The protein vascular endothelial growth factor may represent a new marker for airway inflammation, according to research presented today at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) in San Antonio.

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder in which a process of ongoing inflammation occurs in the lungs, which may result in the narrowing of the airway lumen. An important component of this process is angiogenesis, which is the excessive formation of new blood vessels from older ones. A component that induces angiogenesis and increases vascular permeability is a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

Elham Hossny, MD, PhD, FAAAAI, and colleagues from Aim Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, sought to measure the level of VEGF in both healthy and asthmatic children. They found:

  -- Levels of VEGF were significantly higher in the sputum, or mucous, of
     the asthmatic children during asthma attacks.
  -- VEGF levels declined after asthma attacks, but were still higher than
     levels measured in the healthy non-allergic children.

Researchers believe this may reflect an ongoing inflammatory process occurring inside the airways during remission of asthma attacks, despite the absence of symptoms. VEGF probably has a pathogenic role in bronchial asthma and may represent a biomarker of airway inflammation.

New therapy decreases lung inflammation in asthmatic mice

Daily apolipoprotein A-1 mimetic therapy was found to be both safe and effective in treating lung inflammation in asthma, according to new research presented today at the 2005 AAAAI Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by acute airway constriction, chronic inflammation, and airway remodeling. Apolipoprotein A-1 mimetics remove pro-inflammatory lipids, whose role is to establish a vicious cycle of pulmonary inflammation and airway epithelial dysfunction in asthma.

K.S. Konduri, MD, and colleagues from the Medical College of Wisconsin, studied the effect of a daily therapy with the apolipoprotein A-1 mimetic, D-4F, on mice sensitized with asthma. At the end of four weeks, researchers discovered that the D-4F therapy resulted in a significant decrease in inflammation.

The study is the first to show the efficacy of this particular kind of therapy in the treatment of lung inflammation. It is believed this therapy may provide a safe and effective alternative to inhaled steroids in treating asthma.

Exhaled nitric oxide may help determine asthma related quality of life

New research has found that exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) levels may be a good measurement of quality of life in patients suffering from mild to moderate asthma. These findings were presented today at the 2005 AAAAI Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

Quality of life is a key issue in the long-term management of a chronic disease such as asthma. It is defined as both the impact a disease has on a person as well as how they are affected by treatment. Quality of life is usually evaluated through well validated, but time consuming questionnaires. As a result, it is often overlooked in day to day practice.

Alain Michils, MD, and colleagues from Erasme University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, monitored exhaled nitric oxide levels, a marker of airway inflammation, in 31 patients both before a period of usual asthma therapy and again after a period when asthma therapy was halted.

Researchers identified a cut-off value of 10ppbs as the level of increase in eNO that indicated a significant deterioration of asthma specific quality of life. Exhaled nitric oxide was shown to be superior to any other index measured in this study. If confirmed in long-term studies including patients with severe asthma, researchers believe these findings could make exhaled nitric oxide a useful tool to fine tune asthma treatment.

Researchers develop model to study food allergy induced asthma

Researchers have developed an animal model to study the mechanisms involved with food allergy induced asthma and eczema. These findings were presented today at the 2005 AAAAI Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

Vanessa E. Smart, PhD student at John Curtain School of Medical Research, and colleagues invoked food allergy inflammatory responses in mice by feeding them a food allergen and subsequentially challenging them with an allergen in the skin and airways. Their objective was to investigate the role of the antibodies, specific cells and molecules involved in food allergen induced inflammatory responses.

Researchers found that consumption of food and subsequent food allergen exposure in the skin induced both an early phase response occurring at three hours mediated by antibodies, and also a late phase response occurring at 24 hours mediated by the Th2 cells and the cytokines IL-4 and IL-13. Respiratory exposure of food allergen in food allergic mice induced asthma like symptoms characterized by eosinophilic inflammation mucus hypersection and airway hyperactivity.

Food allergen induced asthma was found to be dependent on Th2 cells, antigen presentation via MHC class II and the cytokines IL-4 and IL-3. These studies suggest that food allergic reactions can predispose to inflammatory responses in the lungs and skin.

Novel insights into rhinoviral provoked asthma exacerbations

Rhinovirus infection increases the activity of human tissue kallikrein in patients with asthma, according to new research presented today at the 2005 AAAAI Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

Rhinovirus infection is frequent trigger for asthma exacerbations. It is unclear why it has such unique consequences for asthmatics, while only causing mild illness in non-asthmatics.

Sandra C. Christiansen, MD, Kaiser-Permanente, and colleagues at the University of San Diego, investigated whether rhinovirus infection induced kallikrein activity in the airways of asthmatic patients. They previously observed that human tissue kallikrein plays a role in the inflammation of the airways of patients with asthma. After inoculating both asthma patients and healthy patients with rhinovirus, researchers discovered that levels of human tissue kallikrein activity doubled in the asthmatic patients.

Researchers also found that protein levels of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-8 directly correlated with the level of human tissue kallikrein activity after rhinovirus infection. These findings support a participatory role for the kallikrein-kinan system in rhinovirus-induced asthma exacerbations and may raise the possibility for future targets for therapeutic interventions.

These studies were presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). The AAAAI is the largest professional medical specialty organization in the United States representing allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists, allied health professionals and others with a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic disease. Allergy/immunology specialists are pediatric or internal medicine physicians who have elected an additional two years of training to become specialized in the treatment of asthma, allergy and immunologic disease. Established in 1943, the AAAAI has over 6,000 members in the United States, Canada and 60 other countries.

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