Airway hypersecretion is recognized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic airway diseases ; but at the present time there is no effective therapy. Recently, a novel EGFR cascade has been discovered, which has been shown to be involved in mucin production by a wide variety of stimuli including cytokines, allergens, activated neutrophils, bacteria, cigarette smoke, and mechanical wounding. Clinical studies with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors will be required to determine their usefulness in allergic hypersecretion and in other hyper-secretory states.
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