The effects of leptin on airway smooth muscle responses.

Obesity is associated with asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness. Leptin modulates some of the proinflammatory effects observed in obesity. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of leptin on airway smooth muscle responses.

Modulation of human airway smooth muscle migration by lipid mediators and Th-2 cytokines.

Cysteinyl leukotrienes and the T helper (Th)-2 cytokines IL-5 and IL-13 directly modulate human airway smooth muscle functions such as contraction and proliferation. We studied the effects of other lipid mediators involved in asthma pathophysiology such as prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)), lipoxin, and isoprostanes, and the cytokines, IL-5, IL-4, and IL-13 on human airway smooth muscle cell migration. Chemotaxis and chemokinesis of cultured airway smooth muscle cells from humans without asthma (second to fifth passages, n = 6) were studied using collagen-I-coated polycarbonate membranes in Transwell culture plates.

Role for cysteinyl leukotrienes in allergen-induced change in circulating dendritic cell number in asthma.

Background: Dendritic cells are important antigen-presenting cells. After an allergen inhalation, their numbers rapidly decrease in circulation and increase in the airway mucosa.

Objective: To investigate whether allergen-induced changes in the number of circulating dendritic cells are mediated by cysteinyl leukotrienes.