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... inflammatory cell infiltration, and smooth muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia. The pathogenesis of asthma can be broadly subdivided into inflammatory and remodelling components. The inflammatory features of asthma consist of a dense inflammatory infiltrate in which eosinophils, mast cells, and CD41 helper T lymphocytes predominate. Neutrophilic infiltration also arises during asthma exacerbations and in the late response to allergen challenge. Dendritic cells seem to be the key cells for antigen presentation in asthma. Antigens then cause cross-linking of IgE and as a consequence mast cells are activated and degranulate. Mast cells are important in the acute airway responses to allergens and may also contribute to remodelling in chronic asthma. Interest in the mast cell will probably increase with the recent report that the presence of mast cells in the smooth muscle layer in bronchial biopsies helps to differentiate asthma from eosinophilic bronchitis, suggesting that interactions between mast cells and smooth muscle are ...