I have pasted an abstract of the mouse study below.  The full article from
the Journal of Immunology is at the following URL but you will have to
subscribe to the journal in order to access it:

http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/full/173/12/7556

The Journal of Immunology, 2004, 173: 7556-7564.
Copyright ? 2004 by The American Association of Immunologists

Immunostimulatory DNA Reverses Established Allergen-Induced Airway
Remodeling1
Cho Jae Youn, Marina Miller, Kwang Je Baek, Ji Won Han, Jyothi Nayar, Sook
Young Lee, Kirsti McElwain, Shauna McElwain, Eyal Raz and David H. Broide2

Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
92093

To determine whether immunostimulatory sequences of DNA (ISS) can reverse
established airway remodeling, mice that had developed airway remodeling
following 3 mo of repetitive OVA challenges, were treated with ISS for 1-3
mo. Systemic administration of ISS to mice that had already developed
established airway remodeling significantly reduced the degree of airway
collagen deposition (assessed by lung collagen content, peribronchial
trichrome staining, and immunostaining with anticollagen type III and type V
Abs). ISS reduced bronchoalveolar lavage and lung levels of TGF-1 and
reduced the number of TGF-1-positive eosinophils and TGF-1-positive
mononuclear cells recruited to the airway. In vitro studies demonstrated
that ISS inhibited TGF-1 expression by macrophages (RAW 264.7 cell line and
bone marrow-derived macrophages). In addition, ISS significantly reduces
lung levels of expression of the chemokine thymus- and activation-regulated
chemokine, as well as the number of peribronchial CD4+ lymphocytes that
express Th2 cytokines that promote peribronchial fibrosis. Overall, these
studies demonstrate that ISS can reverse features of airway collagen
deposition by reducing levels of lung TGF-1, as well as by reducing levels
of the chemokine thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine and the numbers
of peribronchial CD4+ lymphocytes that drive the ongoing Th2 immune
response.

This will be interesting to watch.  Thanks for posting this.

The following are few links I received Dec. 08 from my yahoo news
alert using the keyword asthma, so perhaps there is hope in the near
future for us asthmatics.
Lets just hope so.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/10363280.htm?1c

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2483392

http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=2667684

I have pasted the abstract of the monkey study article below.  Access to the
full article at http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/ requires a subscription.

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 170. pp.
1153-1157, (2004)
? 2004 American Thoracic Society
doi: 10.1164/rccm.200404-533OC

Original Article

Immunostimulatory Oligonucleotides Attenuate Airways Remodeling in Allergic
Monkeys
Michelle V. Fanucchi, Edward S. Schelegle, Gregory L. Baker, Michael J.
Evans, Ruth J. McDonald, Laurel J. Gershwin, Eyal Raz, Dallas M. Hyde,
Charles G. Plopper and Lisa A. Miller

Center for Comparative Respiratory Biology and Medicine, California National
Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis; and School of
Medicine, University of California, San Diego, California

Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Michelle V.
Fanucchi, Ph.D., Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology,
University of California, School of Veterinary Medicine, One Shields Avenue,
Davis, CA 95616. E-mail: mvfanucchi@ucdavis.edu

To determine whether inhaled immunostimulatory DNA sequence oligonucleotides
containing CpG motifs mitigate the pathophysiologic manifestation of the
asthmatic phenotype (airways hyperresponsiveness and airways remodeling),
rhesus monkeys with experimentally induced allergic airways disease were
treated seven times with inhaled immunostimulatory oligonucleotides (or
sham) periodically for 33 weeks. Airways hyperresponsiveness was reduced
twofold in immunostimulatory DNA sequence-treated compared with sham-treated
monkeys. Airways from immunostimulatory oligonucleotide-treated monkeys had
thinner reticular basement membranes, fewer mucous cells, fewer eosinophils,
and fewer mast cells than sham-treated allergic monkeys. We conclude that
inhaled immunostimulatory oligonucleotides can attenuate the magnitude of
airway hyperreactivity and airways remodeling produced in nonhuman primates
with experimentally induced allergic airways disease.
Key Words: airway wall alterations . allergic asthma . immunostimulatory DNA
sequence oligonucleotides . nonhuman primate
This will be interesting to watch.  Thanks for posting this.

The following are few links I received Dec. 08 from my yahoo news
alert using the keyword asthma, so perhaps there is hope in the near
future for us asthmatics.
Lets just hope so.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/10363280.htm?1c

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2483392

http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=2667684