What sets all of this into motion, asthma’s pathogenesis, is equally complex.
The pathophysiology of asthma involves:
Hypersensitivity
People withasthmaare known to be hypersensitive to things calledtriggers.
The narrowing of the airways makes it more difficult to breathe.
Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Hyperresponsiveness occurs soon after exposure to an allergen and is the first part of anasthma attack.
Changes that occur later that have more to do withinflammation.
Bronchoconstriction and Inflammation
Hyperresponsiveness causes your bronchial tubes to contract.
Bronchospasm typically lasts for one to two hours before resolving.
Asthma symptomsmay be present only on occasion or all the time, depending on yourasthma severity.
While less severe asthma is considered reversible with proper treatment and management, airway remodeling is currently irreversible.
It’s associated with worsened symptoms and more frequent and severe asthma attacks.
Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Hypersensitivity prompts an activation of the immune system and starts a complex chain reaction involving numerous cells and substances.
This includes an early phase and a late phase.
The early phase begins when your immune system detects allergens or irritants in your body.
Mast Cells
Mast cells are especially prevalent in certain areas of your body, including the lungs.
Basophils, like mast cells, produce histamine, leukotrienes, and PAF.
E-asthma is often severe and comes on most often in adulthood.
When all three conditions are present, they are collectively known as Samter’s Triad.
Their condition is sometimes referred to as neutrophilic asthma.
Produced in thebone marrow, neutrophils are first-line responders.
They destroy allergens and other invading organisms (viruses, bacteria) by surrounding and ingesting them.
Neutrophils are part of an acute inflammatory response.
They:
They’re involved in both the innate and adaptive immune response as well.
These substances include:
Macrophages can ultimately increase asthma symptoms.
Neutrophils, eosinophils, and Th2 cells are especially believed to be a part of the late-phase response.
These cells can be found in the sputum of people with asthma and may be associated with severe exacerbations.
Given the variety of elements involved in these processes, your asthma management plan will very likely be multi-pronged.
The same goes for mitigating factors that can only worsen inflammation and bronchoconstriction.
And to a large extent, that is true.
2011;11(8):519-531. doi:10.1038/nri3024
Rucker D, Dhamoon AS.Physiology, thromboxane A2.
Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Fahy JV.key in 2 inflammation in asthma–present in most, absent in many.Nat Rev Immunol.
2014;24:14009. doi:10.1038/npjpcrm.2014.9
Finn DF, Walsh JJ.Twenty-first century mast cell stabilizers.Br J Pharmacol.
