Journal
CURRENT ALLERGY AND ASTHMA REPORTS
Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 1-9Publisher
CURRENT MEDICINE GROUP
DOI: 10.1007/s11882-012-0317-9
Keywords
Angiogenesis; Asthma; Vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGF; Interleukin-32; IL-32; Inflammatory pathways; Airways; Polymorphisms; Novel therapies
Categories
Funding
- Novartis
- PREDICTA
- Swiss National Science Foundation
- MeDALL
- Christine Kuhne Center for Allergy Research and Education
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Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by structural airway changes, which are known as airway remodeling, including smooth muscle hypertrophy, goblet cell hyperplasia, subepithelial fibrosis, and angiogenesis. Vascular remodeling in asthmatic lungs results from increased angiogenesis, which is mainly mediated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF is a key regulator of blood vessel growth in the airways of asthma patients by promoting proliferation and differentiation of endothelial cells and inducing vascular leakage and permeability. In addition, VEGF induces allergic inflammation, enhances allergic sensitization, and has a role in Th2 type inflammatory responses. Specific inhibitors of VEGF and blockers of its receptors might be useful to control chronic airway inflammation and vascular remodeling, and might be a new therapeutic approach for chronic inflammatory airway disease like asthma.
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