Airway inflammation in allergic aspergillosis: characterisation, immunologic mechanisms and treatment.

烟曲霉是一种常见于我们社区的真菌。在一些哮喘患者中，这种真菌会导致哮喘变得严重和慢性。它也可能与一种称为支气管扩张的严重肺破坏形式有关。在这种情况下，我们对身体产生的导致炎症的化学物质知之甚少。同样，也不知道为什么只有一些哮喘患者会对这种真菌产生过敏性疾病。在这个项目中，我们将检查两种重要的炎症化学物质（称为细胞因子），以检查它们在曲霉相关过敏中的作用。我们还将检查两种遗传标记，以确定这些遗传标记是否容易使人对曲霉过敏。曲霉菌性肺病的治疗也有问题。在这个项目中，我们将研究一种名为伊曲康唑的新药是否能有效地从气道中清除这种真菌并改善哮喘。

Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus that commonly occurs in our community. In some people with asthma, this fungus causes the asthma to become severe and chronic. It may also be associated with a severe form of lung destruction called bronchiectasis. There is little known about the chemicals produced by the body which contribute to inflammation in this condition. Similarly, it is not known why only some people with asthma develop an allergic disease to this fungus. In this project we will examine 2 important inflammation chemicals (called cytokines) to examine what their role is in aspergillus associated allergy. We will also examine 2 genetic markers to establish whether these predispose to people developing allergy to aspergillus. The treatment of aspergillus lung disease is also problematic. In this project we will examine whether a new medication called itraconazole is effective in removing this fungus from the airway and improving asthma.