Heterogeneity in Asthma

Asthma is a chronic relapsing airways disease that represents a major public health problem
worldwide. Intermittent exacerbations are provoked by airway mucosal exposure
to pro-inflammatory stimuli, with RNA viral infections or inhaled allergens representing
the two most common precipitants. In this setting, inducible signaling pathways
the airway mucosa play a central role in the initiation of airway inflammation
through production of antimicrobial peptides (defensins), cytokines, chemokines
and arachidonic acid metabolites that coordinate the complex processes of
vascular permeability, cellular recruitment, mucous hyper-secretion, bronchial
constriction and tissue remodeling. 
These signals also are responsible for leukocytic infiltration into the
submucosa, T helper-lymphocyte skewing, and allergic sensitization.


Currently, it
is well appreciated that asthma is a heterogeneous in terms of onset,
exacerbants, severity, and treatment response. 
Current asthma classification methods are largely descriptive and focus
on a single aspect or dimension of the disease. 
An active area of investigation on how to collect, use and visualize multidimensional
profiling in asthma.  This book will
overview multidimensional profiling strategies and visualization approaches for
phenotyping asthma.  As an outcome, this
work will facilitate the understanding of disease etiology, prognosis and/or
therapeutic intervention. ​