Current concepts of allergic airway disease

Allergic rhinitis and allergic bronchial asthma are diseases of high prevalence in societies with western lifestyle. In recent years, substantial progress has been made in understanding the underlying mechanisms, and explanations have been developed why the disease prevalence has increased dramatically over the past decades. The most popular explanation is the so-called hygiene hypothesis, postulating that decreased bacterial infection and microbiological contact are responsible for an imbalanced immune response leading to an allergic predisposition. However, the physiological and immunological mechanisms in the lung leading to bronchial asthma are still not fully understood. Therefore, animal models of asthma have been established and improved to study the complex cellular and physiological interactions in vivo. Murine models that reproduce certain features of asthma have been developed. In standard protocols inbred mice are first sensitized systemically to allergen and then challenged by aerosol. Most of the knowledge regarding the mechanisms of allergic inflammation has gained in these animal models.This presentation will focus on the investigation of inflammation and mechanisms of immune reactions in lung tissue by e.g. confocal microscopy. Focus will be the role of dendritic cells and their interaction with other cell types in the lung.