Noninvasive markers of airway inflammation and redox biochemistry applied to asthma

At the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Annual Congress 2006, I received the ERS Annual Award for Pediatric Respiratory Research in Europe for my research work on noninvasive markers of airway inflammation. Most of the studies in which I have been involved were conducted at the University of Padova, Padova, Italy. We have studied asthmatic children, and have demonstrated that some markers of inflammation (e.g cysteinyl leukotrienes) and oxidative stress (e.g. 8-isoprostane and malondialdehyde) are increased in their exhaled breath condensate, while antioxidant products, such as glutathione, are reduced. In addition, while I was working in the laboratory of Dr Benjamin Gaston at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA, I conducted some basic research studies. A first group of experiments was aimed at investigating the role of rhinovirus infection in airway acidification. A second group of experiments was conducted to investigate the mechanisms involved in the regulation of expression S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR), an enzyme that has a role in asthma pathogenesis, breaking down the endogenous bronchodilator GSNO.