Anti-interleukin 5 strategies as a potential treatment for asthma

Abstract

A paradigm shift, championed largely by cellular immunologists, has redefined asthma as an immune mediated phenomenon characterised by an interleukin 5 (IL-5) driven eosinophilic bronchitis. This change in emphasis has provoked intense interest in the possibility that inhibitors of IL-5 production, or antagonists of its activity, will provide a new generation of anti-asthma drugs.