Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Asthma is a major public health problem that afflicts nearly one in 20 people worldwide. Despite available treatments, asthma symptoms remain poorly controlled in a significant minority of asthma patients, especially those with severe disease. Accordingly, much ongoing effort has been directed at developing new therapeutic strategies; these efforts are described in detail below. RECENT FINDINGS: Although mucus hypersecretion is an important component of asthma pathobiology, the primary mechanism of morbidity and mortality in asthma is excessive narrowing of the airway. The key end- effector of excessive airway narrowing is airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction; overcoming ASM contraction is therefore a prominent therapeutic strategy. Here, we review exciting new advances aimed at ASM relaxation. SUMMARY: Exciting advances in ASM biology have identified new therapeutic targets for the prevention or reversal of bronchoconstriction in asthma.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 66-72 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Current opinion in pulmonary medicine |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- airway smooth muscle
- asthma
- bronchodilation
- therapeutic targets
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine