REVIEWS Interleukin-13 Signaling and Its Role in Asthma

Abstract: Asthma affects nearly 300 million people worldwide. The majority respond to inhaled corticosteroid treatment with or without beta-adrenergic agonists. However, a subset of 5 to 10 % with severe asthma do not respond optimally to these medications. Different phenotypes of asthma may explain why current therapies show limited benefits in subgroups of patients. Interleukin-13 is impli-cated as a central regulator in IgE synthesis, mucus hypersecretion, airway hyperresponsiveness, and fibrosis. Promising research sug-gests that the interleukin-13 pathway may be an important target in the treatment of the different asthma phenotypes. Key Words: interleukin-13, asthma, airway hyper-reactivity, fibrosis, single nucleotide polymorphis