الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role. The chronic inflammation causes an associated increase in airway hyper-responsiveness that leads to recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing particularly at night or in early morning. These episodes are associated with wide spread but variable airflow obstruction that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment.
Airway wall remodeling is an established pathological feature in asthma. Its causes are not well understood, but one mediator of potential relevance is transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF- β1).
TGF-β1 is a protein that controls proliferation, cellular differentiation, and other functions in most cells.
TGF-β1 is an extremely potent stimulus to formation of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Furthermore it has been reported that elevated level of plasma TGF-β1 is a predictor of lung fibrosis as serum TGF-β1 levels were well increased with increasing the severity of asthma.
This is a case-control study aiming at assessment of the relationship between serum TGF-β1 and bronchial asthma severity.
40 patients with bronchial asthma and Control group of 10 healthy individuals were selected to assess the variability in the levels of serum TGF- β1.
The present study found that the patients with severe asthma,
uncontrolled asthma, hypertension and smoking habit had the highest level of serum TGF-β1.
Our study found that serum TGFB1 was significantly lower in asthmatics under control of regular systemic corticosteroids, inhaled corticosteroids and antileukotriens therapy.