Role of chemokines in asthmatic airway inflammation

The incidence of asthma worldwide has increased significantly over the past two decades, especially in young children and in inner cities. Although there are several contributing factors that promote severe asthmatic responses, uncontrolled inflammation leads to the most severe consequences. Chemokines are an interesting target for decreasing the inflammatory response and therefore altering the pathogenesis of asthma reactivity in the lungs. However, it has become clear that there are a number of chemokines that play important roles in various aspects of asthmatic inflammation and reactivity. Identifying the functions each of these chemokines plays during the responses will be imperative to properly target different phases of the asthmatic condition. This review will outline what is known of the role of various chemokines that are produced during asthmatic responses and speculate on the appropriateness of targeting these mediators for therapy.