ABSTRACT
Cough is a protective reflex response that can be activated by a large variety
of stimuli of either physical or chemical origin. Acute cough affords protection against potentially harmful agents, either inhaled or produced within
the airways and lungs. Chronic cough may maintain this protective role,
but occasionally its persistence can cause severe discomfort to the patient.
Thus, both dry and productive chronic cough result in medical consultation
and a need for appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, apart from drugs to
treat the underlying diseases that cause the symptom, medicines directly
oriented to reduce or abolish cough are limited to narcotic or narcotic-like
drugs. The lack of availability of antitussive medication is due to many causes, but mainly to the poor understanding of the molecular mechanisms
that underlie the cough response.
