Résumé
Asthma is a disease which is increasing in frequency and severity despite advances in the understanding of its physiology and treatment. Gene therapy raises the hope for treatment of otherwise incurable illnesses, such as asthma. Especially in need of new therapies are patients who require continuous oral glucocorticoids (GC), the so called GC-dependent patients. These patients are those who require particular medical attention, they are frequently admitted to hospital and they represent over 50% of the total costs associated with asthma. No satisfactory alternative therapy is currently available for these individuals. A variety of gene-based strategies have been proposed for inflammatory and immunological disorders. Although there are very few published works that directly bear on gene therapy for asthma, it is the purpose of this review to consider its application to asthma therapy.