Grant: Project Grant

Asthma is a lung disorder caused by diverse environmental triggers, such as allergens, viruses, pollutants and cold dry air. Despite constant effort in research, asthma continues to be highly prevalent in Canada. It currently touches approximately 8% of the population, a great proportion being children. Asthma can be debilitating for many patients and can progress into more severe forms, especially when not treated properly. It also represents a serious burden for the society in term of direct medical costs, as well as indirect costs, such as the loss of productivity at school or at work. Medications that are currently approved to treat asthma fall short, as it is estimated that the symptoms are not adequately controlled in as much as 50% of patients. In fact, some patients are poorly responsive and sometimes totally refractory to asthma medications. Plus, some of these medications can engender side effects. Together, this suggests that there is a serious need to keep improving the treatment of asthma. Since it is barely impossible to avoid the development of asthma, owing to the variety of environmental triggers involved, a part of research in that field must be dedicated to the relief of respiratory symptoms. It is well understood that the contraction of the muscle within the wall of the airways contributes to asthma symptoms by narrowing the passage of air in and out of the lung. Numerous studies have also demonstrated that the force of that muscle can increase rapidly in response to different molecules found within the lungs of asthmatic patients. An increased force of that muscle certainly plays an important role in the manifestation of asthma symptoms. Blocking this gain in force is thus a promising quest in order to relieve asthma symptoms. The goal of this research project is to understand the mechanisms by which the force of the airway muscle is enhanced in asthma. The hope is to identify key pathways for which targeting will improve asthma treatment.