Initiating events in the development of allergic airway inflammation

Funded Activity Summary

Despite recent advances we still do not understand the basic mechanisms which underlie the development of allergic airway inflammatory diseases such as rhinitis and asthma. It has been previously shown that when pollen are exposed to water they release a large number of very small starch granules which contain a number of potent allergens as well as plant steroids. In addition house dust mite allergens which are strongly associated with asthma are mostly located in small faecal pellets. Both these particles are ideally sized to enter the respiratory tract and initiate inflammatory responses. We have shown that these responses appear to be of the type that is needed to initiate allergic reactions. We intend to further study the interactions of these small inhaled allergen containing particles with cells of the respiratory tract. In this proposal we will look at both alveolar macrophages and respiratory epithelial cells. These approaches will not only provide new information about the processes of airway inflammation caused by allergens but may also define new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of these diseases.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2001

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $452,545.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Anaesthesiology

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Allergen induced inflammation in the respiratory tract | Asthma, allergic rhinitis | Induction of allergic inflammation | Inflammation of respiratory tract | Macrophage and epithelial cell response to allergens | Nature of inflammatory response to inhaled allergens | Role of cytokines and chemokines in allergic inflammation

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