Background: Asthma is a complex heritable inflammatory disorder of the airways associated
with clinical signs of allergic inflammation and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR). The
incidence of asthma continues to rise in industrialized countries despite advances in the
identification of cellular and molecular mediators that are associated with the disease.
Because of its importance in human health, additional research and alternative therapeutic
strategies are justified to create more effective treatments for this debilitating disease …