"Canadian study finds potential antibody treatment for mild asthma"

Canadian study finds potential antibody treatment for mild asthma


Marlene Leung, CTVNews.ca

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canadian-study-finds-potential-antibody-treatment-for-mild-asthma-1.1829429

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Canadian researchers have successfully tested an antibody that may lead to an improvement in the quality of life for asthma patients by reducing inflammation in the lungs.

In a new study, published Tuesday in The New England Journal Medicine, the researchers found that blocking a specific protein in the lungs with the antibody AMG 157 relieved baseline inflammation, as well as provided protection against allergens for those patients with mild allergic asthma.

Patients with allergic asthma are typically treated with bronchodilators or corticosteroids that they inhale. However, the findings of the new study may eventually lead to an antibody treatment for those patients with mild allergic asthma who have problems using inhalers or steroid-based medications, the study's authors say.

Dr. Paul O'Byrne, executive director of the Firestone Institute of Respiratory Health in Hamilton, Ont. and the study's co-lead author, said that the research team discovered that the cells that line the airways in the lungs are constantly producing a specific protein, called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), which causes inflammation.


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