Pharmacological modulation of asthma in relation to mechanisms

Asthma is a disorder of airway function that affects persons of all ages. Clinically it manifests as intermittent wheeze and cough in association with a measurable reduction in indexes of airway caliber such as peak expiratory flow or forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). Bronchoconstriction in asthma occurs by a combination of smooth muscle contraction, mucosal edema, and mucus hypersecretion. An additional abnormality in asthma is an increased responsiveness of the airways to a wide variety of exogenous stimuli that fluctuates in time and broadly relates to disease activity. It has long been known that the airways of patients who have died of asthma show widespread inflammation, however, the role of the inflammatory processes in day-to-day asthma has not been carefully evaluated.