Development of Anti-Asthma Drugs

Development of Anti-Asthma Drugs reviews existing asthma treatments and novel approaches currently under investigation, in the context of their mode of action and clinical effectiveness, in the hope that this might lead to a greater understanding of the factors involved in the expression of the disease and, therefore, in the design of better drugs. It is planned based on the concept of the causes and treatment of asthma, This book is organized in three main parts. Part I deals with the nature of asthma, its pathological mechanisms, natural history and epidemiology. Part II discusses mediators associated with asthma including platelet-activating factor, leukotrienes and histamine. Part II covers pharmaceutical approaches in the development of anti-asthma drugs and includes sections on inhibitors of mediator release and competitive and functional antagonists. This book will be of interest to persons dealing with studies on anti-asthma drugs and those interested in pharmacological development.