Introduction: mediator assays and inflammatory events in asthma and allergic disease (Immunology Research Institute of New England Symposium).

The growing recognition of asthma as an immunologic disease mediated by inflammatory cells and mediators has changed the nature of therapy and monitoring of this disease. Modulation of inflammatory mediators such as leukotrienes, prostaglandins, and adenosine by specific immunoregulatory pharmacotherapy is now becoming well-recognized as essential for proper management of allergic diseases, including asthma. The newly-developed immunoassays for specific inflammatory cell activation markers, such as tryptase for mast cell activation, myeloperoxidase for neutrophil activation, and eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) for eosinophil activation, may significantly enhance the ability to both determine the cellular etiology of allergic inflammation and also to monitor the efficacy of antiinflammatory therapies in suppressing cell-specific immunologic events.