ALLERGIC INFLAMMATION AND PLATELET ACTIVATION: A KEY FOCUS TO ASTHMA

D. Sasmal^*, S. P. Pattanayak, P. Mitra Mazumder

Division of Pharmacology, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi 835215.

^*Corresponding Author:

E-mail: dsasmal@bitmesra.ac.in

Tel.: +91 9431390091

Abstract

Asthma is defined as a chronic inflammatory lung disease that is characterized by airway hyperactivity, eosinophil inflammation, and mucus hypersecretion resulting in intermittent airway obstruction. Inflammation and immune reactions are indeed believed to start as time- and site specific defence mechanisms. Failure to resolve an acute beneficial response could later lead to a vicious and anarchic state of chronic activation, which causes healthy tissue damage. Blood platelets, apart from their traditional and well-recognised function in haemostasis, play an essential and active role in allergic inflammation e.g. through their participation in cell recruitment from blood to site of immune reactivity as a result of direct interactions with leukocytes, and through the release of inflammatory mediators. Platelet activation may occur during human allergic reactions both systemically and locally at the site of allergic inflammation as a result of an IgE-dependent process and as a secondary event caused by other inflammatory or immune stimuli.

Keywords: Asthma, Inflammation, immune system, Platelet