Search
Obesity is a contributing factor to asthma severity; while it has long been understood that obesity is related to greater asthma burden, the mechanisms though which this occurs have not been fully elucidated. One common explanation is that obesity mechanically reduces lung volume through accumulation of adipose tissue external to the thoracic cavity.
Up to one-third of young people live with chronic physical conditions (eg, diabetes, asthma, and autoimmune disease) that frequently involve recurrent pain, fatigue, activity limitations, stigma, and isolation.
Shannon Elizabeth Simpson Smith BMedSci (hons), PhD PhD, MSc, BSc Head, Strong Beginnings Research, Co-head Foundations of Lung Disease Program
Despite advances in asthma therapeutics, the burden remains highest in preschool children; therefore, it is critical to identify primary care tools that distinguish preschool children at high risk for burdensome disease for further evaluation.
Lung transcriptomics studies in asthma have provided valuable information in the whole lung context, however, deciphering the individual contributions of the airway and parenchyma in disease pathogenesis may expedite the development of novel targeted treatment strategies. In this study, we performed transcriptomics on the airway and parenchyma using a house dust mite (HDM)-induced model of experimental asthma that replicates key features of the human disease.
This article provides a contemporary report on the role of adipose tissue in respiratory dysfunction. Adipose tissue is distributed throughout the body, accumulating beneath the skin (subcutaneous), around organs (visceral), and importantly in the context of respiratory disease, has recently been shown to accumulate within the airway wall: "airway-associated adipose tissue." Excessive adipose tissue deposition compromises respiratory function and increases the severity of diseases such as asthma.
Patients with comorbid asthma-obesity experience greater disease severity and are less responsive to therapy. We have previously reported adipose tissue within the airway wall that positively correlated with body mass index. Accumulation of biologically active adipose tissue may result in the local release of adipokines and disrupt large and small airway function depending on its anatomical distribution. This study therefore characterized airway-associated adipose tissue distribution, lipid composition, and adipokine activity in a porcine model.
Research question: Are asthma and allergies more common in adolescents conceived with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) compared with adolescents conceived without?
Early childhood wheeze is a major risk factor for asthma. However, not all children who wheeze will develop the disease. The airway epithelium has been shown to be involved in asthma pathogenesis. Despite this, the airway epithelium of children with acute wheeze remains poorly characterized.
The airway epithelium is the primary structural and functional airway barrier and orchestrates innate immunity. Some children may have underlying epithelial vulnerabilities that contribute to the pathogenesis of acute wheeze and asthma.