Neurotrophins in Asthma

Abstract

Purpose of Review Asthma is a chronic airway disease that affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Current treatment focuses on symptomatic relief by temporally dampening inflammation and relaxing the airway. Novel combative strategies against asthma and hopefully a cure are yet to be developed. The goal of this review is to summarize recent literature on neurotrophins (NTs) in experimental models and clinical settings of asthma research. Recent Findings We highlight studies of early phases of asthma that collectively reveal a profound impact of elevated NT levels following initial detrimental insults on long-term airway dysfunction. Summary We hope this review will foster insights into the complex interaction between NTs, nerves, immune cells, and airway structural cells during a critical time window of development and disease susceptibility. Future studies are required to better understand the role of NTs in asthma pathophysiology and to evaluate whether NTs and their receptors may serve as new drug targets.

Uncovering the mechanism of Maxing Ganshi Decoction on asthma from a systematic perspective: A network pharmacology study

“…Subsequently, we retrieved the four key signaling pathways of MXGSD associated with asthma treatment. Latest research shows that neurotrophic factors can be synthesized and released by a variety of immune and inflammatory cells, which mediate airway inflammation through increase of Th2 cells, eosinophils activation, induction of mast cell proliferation and differentiation, promotion of inflammatory mediators release, and immune response intensification 74 . Besides, neurotrophic factors stimulate airway epithelium sensory afferent nerve to synthesize neuropeptides 75 and promote the differentiation of neural stem cells into cholinergic neurons 76 – 80 , which in return mediate airway inflammation, hyper-responsiveness, and remodeling.…”

Cholinergic neuroplasticity in asthma driven by TrkB signaling

“…Neurotrophins (NTs) are growth factors that regulate neuron survival, differentiation, and function 16 . Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its high affinity receptor Tropomyosin receptor kinase B ( TrkB) are important effectors in asthmatic airways 12,17 . The expression of BDNF is increased in the lungs after allergen challenge in murine models 18,19 .…”

Identification of Epigenetic Mechanisms Involved in the Anti-Asthmatic Effects of Descurainia sophia Seed Extract Based on a Multi-Omics Approach

“…Additionally, we also observed enrichment in ECM–receptor interaction and neurotrophin signaling ( Table S4 ). ECM-receptors have direct and indirect effects on cell regulation and interact with eosinophilic asthma [ 10 , 34 ], whereas growth factors such as neurotrophins and their receptors are important in normal lung development, developmental lung disease, allergies and inflammatory conditions such as rhinitis or asthma [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].…”