title: The potential use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in severe asthma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Severe asthma comprises heterogeneous phenotypes that share in common a poor response to traditional therapies. Recent and ongoing work with tyrosine kinase inhibitors suggests a potential beneficial role in treatment of severe asthma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Various receptor and nonreceptor tyrosine kinase pathways contribute to aspects of airway inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness, and remodeling of asthma. Selective and nonselective tyrosine kinase inhibitors may be useful to block pathways that are pathologically overactive or overexpressed in severe asthma. Recent in-vivo studies have demonstrated the utility of inhibitors against specific tyrosine kinases (epidermal growth factor receptor, c-kit/platelet derived growth factor receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, spleen tyrosine kinase, and janus kinase) in altering key aspects of severe asthma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Asthma and even severe asthma does not consist of a single phenotype. Targeting key inflammatory and remodeling pathways engaged across subphenotypes with tyrosine kinase inhibitors appears to hold promise.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65212, USA. gunturv@health.missouri.edu
authors.forename: Vamsi P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Guntur
authors.forename: Carol R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Reinero
mesh_terms: D056151:Airway Remodeling / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000276:immunology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases