CAT-354 has recently been shown to be safe for use in humans in a phase I clinical trial but its real clinical efficacy remains to be proven [148]. Over the past few years, some evidence suggests that the most effective approaches may be combination therapies interfering with several cytokines and pathways involved in asthma

pathogenesis, since anti-IL-4 treatment alone appears to be ineffective and similarly antagonizing IL-13 in mice requires additional suppression of eosinophillic inflammation [149]. IL-4 and IL-13 both use the IL-4R-α chain, and blocking this receptor has been developed as a therapeutic strategy. A human monoclonal anti-IL-4Rα antibody (AMG317) was developed but showed no clinical efficacy [150], whereas another fully humanized anti-IL-4R-α antibody (Dupilumab REGN668) showed clinical

efficacy in patients with high peripheral blood eosinophilia upon tapering of inhaled Cobimetinib datasheet steroids and bronchodilators [151]. Initial proof of concept studies in human asthmatics with anti-IL-5-specific antibody therapies, such as mepolizumab and reslizumab, showed an effective reduction of eosinophil numbers in the blood and sputum of both mild and severe asthmatics, but late allergen responses and BHR were not improved [152, 153]. However, improved efficacy was noticed in specific subgroups CP-673451 mw of patients with frequent asthma exacerbation and in these patients mepolizumab treatment significantly reduced blood and sputum eosinophil levels and allowed lower corticosteroid doses to be used to control the inflammation [12, 13]. It seems, however, that for the majority of asthmatic patients, the anti-IL-5 treatment will need to be administered in combination with other therapies that suppress asthma features through other mechanisms. Results of clinical trials targeting the IL-5R-α subunit to obtain long-term depletion of eosinophils and basophils are eagerly awaited [154]. Currently, clinical data on anti-IL-9 therapeutics are modest and larger clinical

trials are eagerly awaited to conclude whether this form of therapy can be used in the treatment of asthma [155]. Similarly, studies on the neutralization of IL-17 and/or IL-23 and the effect of such MG-132 cell line neutralization on asthma still need to be reported in humans. Could ILC2s constitute a therapeutic target? Certainly, given the character of the ROR-α nuclear receptor, it might be a target amenable to modification by selective antagonists. Also the precise contribution of ILC2s to asthma pathogenesis in human asthma or in mice with a fully functional adaptive immune system has not been thoroughly explored, as strategies to selectively deplete these cells without affecting other cells of the innate and adaptive immune system have not yet been developed.