How to measure inflammation in asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways followed by healing whose end-result is an altered structure referred to as a remodelling of the airways. All the structures of the bronchi are involved in asthma, and inflammation and remodelling processes seems to occur both in large and peripheral airways. In patients with chronic asthma airways inflammation has been widely demonstrated and correlated to the clinical severity of the disease, and the involvement of several cells, such as epithelial cells, eosinophils, mast-cells, lymphocytes and macrophages has been widely demonstrated. Although it the bronchial tree, the site of the airways inflammation is still a matter of controversy, recent studies suggest that inflammation is not restricted to bronchi being almost homogeneously distributed in both central and peripheral airways.