Asthma: beyond corticosteroid treatment

Ab s t r a c t Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, affecting over 300 million people. It is an inflammatory disorder characterized by bron-choconstriction and airway hyperresponsiveness, followed by inflammatory manifestations in the respiratory system. The prevalence of asthma is rising and there is a clinical need to develop more effective treatments. While corti-costeroids (glucocorticosteroids) remain the mainstay of asthma therapy, they have limitations because of their potentially severe side-effects and the pres-ence of corticosteroid resistance in some patients. This review discusses cur-rent strategies in the treatment of asthma and considers new therapeutic reg-imens of asthma in the drug development pipeline. Key words: asthma, corticosteroids, inflammation