MRC & Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma

Contact Details

Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy

5th Floor, Thomas Guy House

Guys Hospital, Kings College, St. Thomas Street

London

SE1 9RT

Telephone

0171 188 0612

Email

alex.faith@kcl.ac.uk

Profile

Alex Faith’s interests are in the field of immunoregulation of allergic responses in patients with chronic antigen driven airway disease, particularly asthma and rhinosinusitus. He has a particular interest in human airway dendritic cells (DC), the principal antigen presenting cell population, and have shown (1) that DC preferentially induce differentiation of Th2 cells in contrast to matched peripheral blood dendritic cells which induce Th1 responses (2) activation of the high affinity IgE receptor, Fc?RI, on DC concomitant with stimulation with IL-4 increased production of inflammatory cytokine and decreased production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, revealing a novel pro-inflammatory mechanism. He is investigating the effect of air pollutants on the responses of airway dendritic cells and bronchial epithelial cells. Inflammatory cytokine production by these cells correlated with the oxidative potential and iron content of the pollutant extracts and could be inhibited by sulforaphane, an inducer of anti-oxidative phase II enzymes. The potential synergistic effects of allergens which are known to have oxidative potential and pollutants on human bronchial cells from asthmatics and normals are currently being investigated.

MRC & Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma

Last modified: 04 December 2009 11:38