History suggests β agonists, the cognate ligand of the β 2 adrenoceptor, have been used as
bronchodilators for around 5,000 years, and β agonists remain today the frontline treatment …

Bronchodilators are central in the treatment of of airways disorders. They are the mainstay of
the current management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and are critical in …

Despite the yield of recent genome-wide association (GWA) studies, the identified variants
explain only a small proportion of the heritability of most complex diseases. This …

Asthma affects almost 20 million people in the United States and more than 300 million
people worldwide. Of these, 10-15% have severe asthma, which is refractory to commonly …

In asthma, airflow obstruction is thought to result primarily from inflammation-triggered
airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction. However, anti-inflammatory and smooth muscle …

Background The response to treatment for asthma is characterized by wide interindividual
variability, with a significant number of patients who have no response. We hypothesized …

Pharmacogenetics deals with inherited differences in the response to drugs. The best-
recognized examples are genetic polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzymes, which …

BACKGROUND: The goals of asthma treatment include preventing recurrent exacerbations.
Yet there is no consensus about the terminology for describing or defining “exacerbation” or …

Asthma and obesity are prevalent disorders, each with a significant public health impact,
and a large and growing body of literature suggests an association between the two. The …

There has been a recent increase in the prevalence of asthma worldwide; however, the 5–
10% of patients with severe disease account for a substantial proportion of the health costs …