Is steroid-refractory asthma among cigarette smokers mediated by activation of the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor?

Asthma is severe in ~10% of patients who don’t respond well to steroid treatment. Understanding what causes this poor response will identify new treatment. We have shown that cigarette-smoking is associated with poor clinical responses to steroids. This project aims to replicate this poor steroid response in the lab using cigarette-smoke extract on experimental human lung cells, and to reverse this using blockers of smoking-related inflammation. Restoring good clinical response to steroids will greatly improve health care for asthma among smokers. Better understanding of steroid responses will direct development of new or additional drugs for inflammatory diseases.