Rethink On Asthma Etiology?

- The antibody immunoglobulin E, thought to play a key role in thedevelopment of allergy-induced asthma, may not be required for the expression of the disease in mice, say researchers from four institutions in the USA. A mold, known to cause asthma in humans, produced inflammation of the airways in both normal mice and in genetically-altered IgE-deficient mice. In addition, without allergan exposure, the baseline level of bronchial muscle contraction was higher in IgE-deficient mice than in normal mice.