The kinin system in rhinitis and asthma

The past decade has seen renewed interest in the potential role of kinins in airway diseases. The correlation between kinin generation and symptoms of inflammation, together with the demonstration that administration of kinins to the airway mucosa can induce relevant symptoms, provides strong circumstantial support for a role of kinins in the pathogenesis of airway diseases, such as allergic and viral rhinitis and asthma. Definitive studies of the effects of blockade of kinin actions on symptomatic responses, however, are still needed. The effects of kinins in the airways, and the mechanisms by which they exert their actions clearly vary depending on the presence of inflammation in the airways. Although a growing body of evidence implicates activation of sensory nerves as an important component of kinin effects in inflamed airways, the components of inflammation that modify the response of these sensory nerves, the mechanisms by which neuronal responsiveness alters, and the degree of selectivity of neuronal activation to bradykinin are all topics that require further delineation.