Asthma's potential root cause

A team of scientists have for the first time identified the potential root cause of asthma and an existing drug that offers a new treatment. Published in Science Translational Medicine , Cardiff University researchers, working in collaboration with scientists at King's College London and the Mayo Clinic (USA), describe the previously unproven role of the calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) in causing asthma, a disease which affects 300 million people worldwide. The team, which includes Professor Christopher Corrigan and Professor Jeremy Ward from the Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology at King's College London, used mouse models of asthma and human airway tissue from asthmatic and non-asthmatic people to reach their findings. Crucially, the paper highlights the effectiveness of a class of drugs known as calcilytics in manipulating CaSR to reverse all symptoms associated with the condition. These symptoms include airway narrowing, airway twitchiness and inflammation - all of which contribute to increased breathing difficulty. "Our findings are incredibly exciting," said the principal investigator, Professor Daniela Riccardi, from Cardiff University School of Biosciences. "For the first time we have found a link airways inflammation, which can be caused by environmental triggers - such as allergens, cigarette smoke and car fumes - and airways twitchiness in allergic asthma.