Pilot Study to Identify the Mediators and Inflammatory Cell Surface Receptors Involved in Allergic Airway Inflammation

The production of chemotactic cytokines or chemokines by the airways is one of the mechanisms thought to be responsible for the recruitment of inflammatory cells to the airways (Makay 2001). While the chemokine receptor-ligand systems responsible for immune cell homing to the mucosal surface of the gastrointestinal tract have been clarified, those responsible for allergic airway inflammation remain unknown. This work is designed to identify airway factors that are responsible for recruiting cells and associate their airway presence with atopy and asthma.