Antibiotics counteract the worsening of airway remodelling induced by infections in asthma.
Asthma is associated with structural remodelling processes, including basement membrane thickening, increased vascularity and smooth muscle alterations. It is known that respiratory infections are associated with asthma exacerbation; infections can worsen asthma symptoms and influence susceptibility to asthma onset. How infections affect asthma is not fully elucidated. It is possible that the immune response, due to recurrent infections, leads to the pathogen's eradication but also increases bronchial inflammation, which induces airway remodelling in asthmatic subjects. We evaluated how infection affects lung remodelling and inflammatory responses and assessed the impact of antibiotic treatment in a murine model of asthma. Ovalbumin-sensitised BALB/c mice were divided into control, mild and chronic asthmatics. A subset of animals in each group was infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae and was treated with antibiotics. The results show an increase in key lung remodelling factors in mice with chronic asthma, particularly those infected with S. pneumoniae. Notably, antibiotic therapy attenuated these effects. These findings demonstrate for the first time that prompt antibiotic therapy may be useful to reduce lung remodelling progression in infected asthmatic subjects.
Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, via Vanvitelli 32, Milan, Italy.
Valeria
V
Lucini
Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, via Vanvitelli 32, Milan, Italy.
Rocco
R
Ciracì
Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, via Vanvitelli 32, Milan, Italy.
Silvana
S
Dugnani
Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, via Vanvitelli 32, Milan, Italy.
Marilou
M
Pannacci
IFOM Foundation, FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Milan, Italy.
Federica
F
Pisati
IFOM Foundation, FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Milan, Italy.
Alessia
A
Caronno
Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, via Vanvitelli 32, Milan, Italy.
Giampaolo
G
Tirone
Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, via Vanvitelli 32, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.scaglione@unimi.it.
Francesco
F
Scaglione
D056151:Airway Remodeling; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
Antibiotics; Lung remodelling; Respiratory infections