Allergens and Respiratory Pollutants The Role of Innate Immunity [Paperback]

Allergens and respiratory pollutants is a collection of 12 authoritative papers that draws upon the collective expertise of world leaders in the fields of innate immunity, immunotoxicology and pulmonary biology. The book critically explores the biological and immunological mechanisms that contribute to immune dysfunction on exposure to allergens and the susceptibility to infectious disease on exposure to ambient pollutants. The clinical relevance of exposure to ambient airborne xenobiotics is critically discussed and collectively, this book provides an educational forum that links the health effects of environmental exposures, immune dysfunction and inflammatory airways disease.

• Discusses recent advances in our understanding of cell-mediated innate immune mechanisms that occur during allergic inflammation and provides important timely coverage of diseases of concern and how such diseases are influenced by a dysfunctional immune system
• Provides useful information on linking environmental 'danger signals' that provoke immune dysfunction and exacerbation of existing disease
• Draws upon the collective expertise of an international college of leaders in the field, but also provides chapters that provide essential reference material

Dr Marc A. Williams is a Biologist with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, USA and a former Assistant Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine at The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, USA and Instructor of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has a long-standing interest and program of research in the field of immunotoxicology and innate immunity. Currently, he is studying the cell-mediated and molecular mechanisms involved in the dysfunction of the pulmonary immune system and the role played by respirable ambient pollutants inclulÃS