Asthma is one of the chronic and life-threatening ailments of today, which is a respiratory disorder that causes a periodically narrow entry of air in and out of the lungs.  This narrowing of air passage is often manifested by episodic coughing, shortness of breath, and wheezing.  Although the narrowing phenomenon is generally temporary and reversible, certain asthma attacks like those of severe asthma may lead to death. While there is no known cure for asthma, researches disclose that there are effective available treatments to prevent and if not control asthma attacks.

Among the common medications for asthma are the oral medications, the inhalers, and the hand-held pumps. These treatments however are provisional only. Different individuals with asthma require different therapy and while there are only limited options for treatment, scientific breakthroughs were able to identify factors that play great role in refractory asthma that may be targeted.  One of which is the Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha or commonly known as the TNF-alpha. 

In pharmacology, TNF-alpha is a cytokine that triggers inflammatory responses, which consequently causes a number of autoimmune disorders.  Among clinical problems associated with TNF-alpha are the ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and refractory asthma.

Numerous medical studies were undertaken to explore the potential steroid use of targeting the TNF-alpha for treatment of patients suffering from persistent and severe asthma.  First of these studies was that conducted by Howarth, which showed how the level of TNF-alpha in the airway is associated with the severity of asthma.  The study exposed that asthmatics showed higher levels of TNF-alpha in their airways than non-asthmatics.  The study further showed that of the fifteen patients who completed a twelve-week trial of a soluble TNF-alpha receptor called etanercept, significant airflow and symptom score improvements were seen.

Later on, the Berry study was published which revealed the study conducted on ten controlled subjects and ten patients with asthma assessments ranging from mild to moderate asthma. The ten-week trial treatment with etanercept also showed that there is significant reduction of TNF-alpha in the peripheral blood monocytes.

Still another study was performed which made use of the infliximab among thirty-eight patients suffering from moderate asthma. After eight weeks, the study revealed that infliximab treatment significantly reduced the levels of the TNF-alpha and showed reduction in peak respiratory flow rate or the PEF rate’s diurnal variation as well as asthma exacerbations.

In conclusion, these studies tell that the TNF-alpha gene has a bearing on asthma pathogenesis.  Prospects of cytokine therapy that would block the TNF-alpha production provide promising solutions to suppress inflammatory reaction and consequently prevent occurrences of asthma attacks.