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Published on: April 16, 2019
Cysteinyl-leukotrienes in asthmatic airway smooth muscle cell hyperplasia
Ynuk Bossé1, Jana Stankova, Marek Rola-Pleszczynski
1The James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, Providence Health Care/St. Paul's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ybosse@mrl.ubc.ca
Objective:
To present a historic perspective and an up-to-date understanding of the involvement of cysteinyl-leukotrienes (cys-LTs) in asthmatic airway smooth muscle (ASM) cell hyperplasia.
Data Sources:
Data collected from human tissues, from animal models of airway inflammation, and from ASM cells cultured in vitro are included.
Study Selection:
All studies regarding the potential contribution of cys-LTs on ASM cell hyperplasia are reviewed.
Results:
Whereas in vivo observations are consistent and seem to attribute an important role for cys-LTs in ASM cell hyperplasia, the observations made in cultured ASM cells are inconsistent, with studies documenting a mitogenic potential only reporting marginal effects.
Conclusion:
This dichotomy between in vitro and in vivo results led to the elaboration of a hypothesis suggesting that the mitogenic effect of cys-LTs on ASM cells may be indirect and mediated by a paracrine loop involving transforming growth factor beta1 production by airway resident and inflammatory cells.
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