Cytokines and chemokines in allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and experimental Aspergillus-induced allergic airway or asthmatic disease

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a devastating clinical disease that results from an aggressive pulmonary allergic response to the antigens released by colonizing Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) in the respiratory system. Many of the allergic features of clinical ABPA have been reproduced in murine models, thereby facilitating a detailed analysis of the inflammatory and immune events that surround the initiation and maintenance of this disease. Herein, we describe the involvement of cytokines and chemokines in murine allergic pulmonary disease elicited by A. fumigatus antigens and spores (or conidia). More importantly, data derived from murine models of Aspergillus-induced allergic airway disease or asthma also suggest that the specific targeting of cytokines and/or chemokines may provide a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of clinical ABPA.