How will nanotechnology lead to better control of asthma?

Asthma is a common inflammatory disease of the lungs characterized by reversible airway obstruction, bronchial hyper-responsiveness, and chronic airway inflammation (1). The most widely used therapies for asthma include inhaled corticosteroids and bronchodilators (short- or long-acting β2-adrenergic agonists or muscarinic antagonists). Although most patients with asthma respond well to inhaled corticosteroids, asthma control is poor in some patients who require maximal dosages (2). These patients rely on chronic oral corticosteroid use which can result in many serious side effects (3-8) and increased mortality (9). Although biologics have been shown to effectively reduce the use of systemic corticosteroid use (10), their use is associated with a higher socioeconomic burden, which limits the availability of these drugs. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs or improve the delivery of current inhaled drugs which can enhance their bioavailability and effectiveness. From this perspective, an article by Wang and colleagues in Annals of Translational Medicine provides an important review on nanotechnology as a promising weapon against asthma (11)