Influenza A virusSOURCE: CDC
Viral respiratory infection causes severe asthma attacks in almost all patients with asthma -- a reaction classically attributed to T cells of the adaptive immune system. Now, scientists have identified a pathway in mice by which a subset of innate immune cells, found in mammalian lungs for the first time, orchestrate influenza-induced asthma.
The discovery, published online today in Nature Immunology, suggests the innate immune system, and not just the adaptive immune system, triggers asthma attacks after viral infections. The cells, plus a newly identified pathway by which the cells are activated, could provide novel targets for therapies to control viral-induced asthma attacks, which fail to respond to conventional asthma medications, the authors write.
The research is "fresh and engaging," said Gary Anderson, who studies ...
