Human Airway Inflammation

Airway inflammation is now recognized as central to the pathophysiology of several major respiratory conditions-the two most common being asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In Human Airway Inflammation: Sampling Techniques and Analytical Protocols, experienced basic and clinical investigators describe a wide range of readily reproducible methods for sampling, isolating, and culturing all of the major inflammatory cells involved in the pathophysiology of asthma and COPD. The collection techniques detailed here involve biopsy and sampling of airway liquids such as sputum and exhaled gases such as nitric oxide. Also provided is a full range of methods for the isolation and characterization of cells and for the measurement of many of the major inflammatory markers, along with protocols for measuring the inflammatory mediators and enzymes released during lung inflammation. Each user-friendly method contains all the essential step-by-step elements the researcher must navigate from sample collection to analysis, and includes notes on how to avoid problems. Among the more advanced techniques are the measurement of exhaled hydrocarbons and F2 isoprostanes, granulocyte pharmacodynamics in whole blood measured by flow cytometry, and tracing mediator trafficking in eosinophils using confocal microscopy. Comprehensive and highly practical, the methods presented in Human Airway Inflammation: Sampling Techniques and Analytical Protocols provide today's basic and clinical researchers with all the major techniques for investigating airway inflammation, and powerfully illuminate many novel targets for emerging drugs.