In a study led by UCSF team an existence of relationship between
asthma and composition of bacterial species, which are present
in bronchial airways was revealed. This finding could suggest
new treatment or even potential cures for the common
inflammatory disease. Using new detection methods, researchers
learned that the diversity of microbes inside the respiratory
tract is far vaster than previously suspected - creating a
complex and inter-connected microbial neighborhood that appears
to be associated with asthma, and akin to what has also been
found in inflammatory bowel disease, vaginitis, periodontitis,
and possibly even obesity. "People thought that asthma was
caused by inhalation of allergens but this study shows that it
may be more complicated than that - asthma may involve
colonization of the airways by multiple bacteria," said study
co-author Homer Boushey, MD, a UCSF professor of medicine in the
division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. In their
three-year pilot project, the scientists colle