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Pasha MA, Hopp R, Habib N, Tang D. Biomarkers in Asthma, Potential for Therapeutic Intervention. J Asthma 2024:1-30. [PMID: 38805392 DOI: 10.1080/02770903.2024.2361783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease with multiple phenotypes that have variable risk factors and therapeutic responses. Airway hyperreactivity, inflammation and airway remodeling are hallmarks of asthma. Asthmatics exhibiting an increase in airway T2 inflammation is now classify as having T2-"high" asthma. Type 2 cytokines, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13, along with other inflammatory mediators, lead to increased eosinophilic inflammation along with elevated FeNO in this endotype. There is no clear definition for T2-"low" asthma. Biomarkers can help identify different phenotypes and endotypes, treatment response to standard treatment or potential therapeutic targets particularly for biologics. As our knowledge of phenotypes and endotypes improved, biologics have increasingly integrated into treatment strategies for severe asthma. These treatments block specific inflammatory pathways or single mediators. Single or composite biomarkers may help to identify subsets of patients who will benefit from these treatments. However, only a few inflammatory biomarkers have validated for clinical application. As knowledge emerges, the goal would be to provide individualized care to asthmatic patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Asghar Pasha
- Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, USA
| | - Russell Hopp
- University of Nebraska Medical Center and Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Nazia Habib
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, USA
| | - Dale Tang
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, USA
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2
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Custovic A, Siddiqui S, Saglani S. Considering biomarkers in asthma disease severity. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2021; 149:480-487. [PMID: 34942235 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2021.11.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Amongst patients with asthma, reliance on the type/dose of prescribed medication and symptom control does not adequately capture those at risk of adverse outcomes, and we need biomarkers for risk and treatment stratification which are consistently accurate, readily quantifiable and reproducible. The majority of patients with severe asthma, regardless of age, have predominant type-2 (T2) inflammation mediated disease, making airway/blood eosinophils, FeNO, periostin and/or allergic sensitization potentially important biomarkers for severe disease. In both adult and pediatric asthma, there is scope to improve prediction of severe attacks by using a composite T2 biomarkers of blood eosinophils and FeNO. Technological advances in component-resolved diagnostics (CRD) microarray technologies coupled with the development of interpretation software offer a possibility to use CRD as biomarkers of asthma severity amongst sensitized asthmatics. Genetic predisposition and polygenic risk scores of relevant traits (e.g., lung function, host immune responses, biomarkers of exposure from the indoor and outdoor environment, infection and microbial dysbiosis) may also contribute to prediction algorithms. We challenge the idea that asthma can be accurately defined in an individual patient by a discrete and static "endotype" (e.g., T2-high asthma). As we traverse the new era of molecular endotyping in asthma, we need to understand how relevant mechanisms impact patient outcomes, and in parallel develop new tools and approaches to stratify therapies and define individual patient trajectories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adnan Custovic
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK.
| | - Salman Siddiqui
- Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester and NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester UK
| | - Sejal Saglani
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK
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Mthembu N, Ikwegbue P, Brombacher F, Hadebe S. Respiratory Viral and Bacterial Factors That Influence Early Childhood Asthma. FRONTIERS IN ALLERGY 2021; 2:692841. [PMID: 35387053 PMCID: PMC8974778 DOI: 10.3389/falgy.2021.692841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition characterised by episodes of shortness of breath due to reduced airway flow. The disease is triggered by a hyperreactive immune response to innocuous allergens, leading to hyper inflammation, mucus production, changes in structural cells lining the airways, and airway hyperresponsiveness. Asthma, although present in adults, is considered as a childhood condition, with a total of about 6.2 million children aged 18 and below affected globally. There has been progress in understanding asthma heterogeneity in adults, which has led to better patient stratification and characterisation of multiple asthma endotypes with distinct, but overlapping inflammatory features. The asthma inflammatory profile in children is not well-defined and heterogeneity of the disease is less described. Although many factors such as genetics, food allergies, antibiotic usage, type of birth, and cigarette smoke exposure can influence asthma development particularly in children, respiratory infections are thought to be the major contributing factor in poor lung function and onset of the disease. In this review, we focus on viral and bacterial respiratory infections in the first 10 years of life that could influence development of asthma in children. We also review literature on inflammatory immune heterogeneity in asthmatic children and how this overlaps with early lung development, poor lung function and respiratory infections. Finally, we review animal studies that model early development of asthma and how these studies could inform future therapies and better understanding of this complex disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nontobeko Mthembu
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Paul Ikwegbue
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Frank Brombacher
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Immunology, Health Science Faculty, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa), Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Sabelo Hadebe
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Abstract
Purpose of review Severe pediatric asthma exerts a substantial burden on patients, their families and society. This review provides an update on the latest insights and needs regarding the implementation of precision medicine in severe pediatric asthma. Recent findings Biologicals targeting underlying inflammatory pathways are increasingly available to treat children with severe asthma, holding the promise to enable precision medicine in this heterogeneous patient population with high unmet clinical needs. However, the current understanding of which child would benefit from which type or combination of biologicals is still limited, as most evidence comes from adult studies and might not be generalizable to the pediatric population. Studies in pediatric severe asthma are scarce due to the time-consuming effort to diagnose severe asthma and the challenge to recruit sufficient study participants. The application of innovative systems medicine approaches in international consortia might provide novel leads for – preferably noninvasive – new biomarkers to guide precision medicine in severe pediatric asthma. Summary Despite the increased availability of targeted treatments for severe pediatric asthma, clinical decision-making tools to guide these therapies are still lacking for the individual pediatric patient.
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Fainardi V, Saglani S. An approach to the management of children with problematic severe asthma. ACTA BIO-MEDICA : ATENEI PARMENSIS 2020; 91:e2020055. [PMID: 32921752 PMCID: PMC7717010 DOI: 10.23750/abm.v91i3.9603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Children with poor asthma control despite high levels of prescribed treatment are described as having problematic severe asthma. Most of these children have steroid sensitive disease which improves with adherence to daily inhaled corticosteroids and after having removed modifiable factors like poor inhalation technique, persistent adverse environmental exposures and psychosocial factors. These children are described as having “difficult-to-treat asthma” while children with persistent symptoms despite above-mentioned factors having been addressed are described as having “severe therapy-resistant asthma”. In this review, we will describe the 6-step approach to the diagnosis and management of a child with problematic severe asthma adopted by The Royal Brompton Hospital (London, UK). The role of a multidisciplinary team is crucial for identification and treatment of modifiable factors and comorbidities in order to avoid invasive examinations and useless pharmacological treatments. The current knowledge on add-on therapies will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sejal Saglani
- Department of Respiratory Paediatrics, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK..
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Bush A. Which Child with Asthma is a Candidate for Biological Therapies? J Clin Med 2020; 9:jcm9041237. [PMID: 32344781 PMCID: PMC7230909 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9041237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
In asthmatic adults, monoclonals directed against Type 2 airway inflammation have led to major improvements in quality of life, reductions in asthma attacks and less need for oral corticosteroids. The paediatric evidence base has lagged behind. All monoclonals currently available for children are anti-eosinophilic, directed against the T helper (TH2) pathway. However, in children and in low and middle income settings, eosinophils may have important beneficial immunological actions. Furthermore, there is evidence that paediatric severe asthma may not be TH2 driven, phenotypes may be less stable than in adults, and adult biomarkers may be less useful. Children being evaluated for biologicals should undergo a protocolised assessment, because most paediatric asthma can be controlled with low dose inhaled corticosteroid if taken properly and regularly. For those with severe therapy resistant asthma, and refractory asthma which cannot be addressed, the two options if they have TH2 inflammation are omalizumab and mepolizumab. There is good evidence of efficacy for omalizumab, particularly in those with multiple asthma attacks, but only paediatric safety, not efficacy, data for mepolizumab. There is an urgent need for efficacy data in children, as well as data on biomarkers to guide therapy, if the right children are to be treated with these powerful new therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Bush
- Imperial College & Royal Brompton Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London SW£ dNP, UK
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Children with poor asthma control despite maximal maintenance therapy have problematic severe asthma (PSA). A step-wise approach including objective adherence monitoring and a detailed multidisciplinary team assessment to identify modifiable factors contributing to poor control is needed prior to considering therapy escalation. Pathophysiological phenotyping in those with true severe therapy-resistant asthma (STRA) and the current array of add-on therapies will be discussed. RECENT FINDINGS Adherence monitoring using electronic devices has shown that only 20-30% of children with PSA have STRA and need additional therapies. Omalizumab and mepolizumab are licensed for children with STRA aged 6 years and older. Although robust safety and efficacy data, with reduced exacerbations, are available for omalizumab, biomarkers predicting response to treatment are lacking. Paediatric safety data are available for mepolizumab, but efficacy data are unknown for those aged 6-11 years and minimal for those 12 years and older. A sub-group of children with STRA have neutrophilia, but the clinical significance and contribution to disease severity remains uncertain. SUMMARY Most children with PSA have steroid sensitive disease which improves with adherence to maintenance inhaled corticosteroids. Add-on therapies are only needed for the minority with STRA. Paediatric efficacy data of novel biologics and biomarkers that identify the optimal add-on for each child are lacking. If we are to progress toward individualized therapy for STRA, pragmatic clinical trials of biologics in accurately phenotyped children are needed.
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Diamant Z, Vijverberg S, Alving K, Bakirtas A, Bjermer L, Custovic A, Dahlen S, Gaga M, Gerth van Wijk R, Del Giacco S, Hamelmann E, Heaney LG, Heffler E, Kalayci Ö, Kostikas K, Lutter R, Olin A, Sergejeva S, Simpson A, Sterk PJ, Tufvesson E, Agache I, Seys SF. Toward clinically applicable biomarkers for asthma: An EAACI position paper. Allergy 2019; 74:1835-1851. [PMID: 30953574 DOI: 10.1111/all.13806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Inflammation, structural, and functional abnormalities within the airways are key features of asthma. Although these processes are well documented, their expression varies across the heterogeneous spectrum of asthma. Type 2 inflammatory responses are characterized by increased levels of eosinophils, FeNO, and type 2 cytokines in blood and/or airways. Presently, type 2 asthma is the best-defined endotype, typically found in patients with allergic asthma, but surprisingly also in nonallergic patients with (severe) asthma. The etiology of asthma with non-type 2 inflammation is less clear. During the past decade, targeted therapies, including biologicals and small molecules, have been increasingly integrated into treatment strategies of severe asthma. These treatments block specific inflammatory pathways or single mediators. Single or composite biomarkers help to identify patients who will benefit from these treatments. So far, only a few inflammatory biomarkers have been validated for clinical application. The European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Task Force on Biomarkers in Asthma was initiated to review different biomarker sampling methods and to investigate clinical applicability of new and existing inflammatory biomarkers (point-of-care) to support diagnosis, targeted treatment, and monitoring of severe asthma. Subsequently, we discuss existing and novel targeted therapies for asthma as well as applicable biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuzana Diamant
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology Institute for Clinical Science Skane University Hospital Lund Sweden
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology UMCG and QPS‐NL Groningen The Netherlands
- Department of Respiratory Medicine First Faculty of Medicine Charles University and Thomayer Hospital Prague Czech Republic
| | - Susanne Vijverberg
- Department of Respiratory Medicine Amsterdam UMC University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Kjell Alving
- Department of Women's and Children's Health Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden
| | - Arzu Bakirtas
- Department of Pediatrics Division of Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Gazi University School of Medicine Ankara Turkey
| | - Leif Bjermer
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology UMCG and QPS‐NL Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Adnan Custovic
- Section of Paediatrics Department of Medicine Imperial College London London UK
| | - Sven‐Erik Dahlen
- Experimental Asthma and Allergy Research Institute of Environmental Medicine Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden
| | - Mina Gaga
- 7th Respiratory Medicine Department and Asthma Centre Athens Chest Hospital Athens Greece
| | - Roy Gerth van Wijk
- Section of Allergology Department of Internal Medicine Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam the Netherlands
| | - Stefano Del Giacco
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health University of Cagliari Cagliari Italy
| | - Eckard Hamelmann
- Children's Center Protestant Hospital Bethel Bielefeld Germany
- Allergy Center Ruhr University Bochum Bochum Germany
| | - Liam G. Heaney
- Centre for Experimental Medicine, School of MedicineDentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast Belfast UK
| | - Enrico Heffler
- Department of Biomedical Sciences Humanitas University Milan Italy
- Personalized Medicine, Asthma and Allergy Humanitas Research Hospital Milan Italy
| | - Ömer Kalayci
- Division of Pediatric Allergy Faculty of Medicine Hacettepe University Ankara Turkey
| | - Konstantinos Kostikas
- Respiratory Medicine Department University of Ioannina Medical School Ioannina Greece
| | - Rene Lutter
- Department of Respiratory Medicine Amsterdam UMC University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Anna‐Carin Olin
- Section of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden
| | | | - Angela Simpson
- Division of Infection, Immunity and Respiratory Medicine Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre University of Manchester and University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust Manchester UK
| | - Peter J. Sterk
- Department of Respiratory Medicine Amsterdam UMC University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Ellen Tufvesson
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology UMCG and QPS‐NL Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Ioana Agache
- Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Faculty of Medicine Transylvania University Brasov Brasov Romania
| | - Sven F. Seys
- Allergy and Clinical Immunology Research Group Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation KU Leuven Leuven Belgium
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Saglani S, Bush A, Carroll W, Cunningham S, Fleming L, Gaillard E, Gupta A, Murray C, Nagakumar P, Paton J, Roberts G, Seddon P, Sinha I. Biologics for paediatric severe asthma: trick or TREAT? THE LANCET RESPIRATORY MEDICINE 2019; 7:294-296. [PMID: 30824361 DOI: 10.1016/s2213-2600(19)30045-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Revised: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sejal Saglani
- National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Respiratory Paediatrics, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK.
| | - Andrew Bush
- National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Respiratory Paediatrics, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK
| | - Will Carroll
- Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust, Stoke-On-Trent, UK
| | - Steve Cunningham
- Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Louise Fleming
- National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Respiratory Paediatrics, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK
| | - Erol Gaillard
- Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Atul Gupta
- Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, King's College Hospital, London, UK
| | - Clare Murray
- Department of Respiratory Paediatrics, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
| | - Prasad Nagakumar
- Department of Respiratory Paediatrics, Birmingham Women's & Children's Hospital, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - James Paton
- Department of Child Health, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Graham Roberts
- Paediatric Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Paul Seddon
- Children's and Adolescent Services, Brighton & Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust, Brighton, UK
| | - Ian Sinha
- Department of Women's & Children's Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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Fleming L, Heaney L. Severe Asthma-Perspectives From Adult and Pediatric Pulmonology. Front Pediatr 2019; 7:389. [PMID: 31649906 PMCID: PMC6794347 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2019.00389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Both adults and children with severe asthma represent a small proportion of the asthma population; however, they consume disproportionate resources. For both groups it is important to confirm the diagnosis of severe asthma and ensure that modifiable factors such as adherence have, as far as possible, been addressed. Most children can be controlled on inhaled corticosteroids and long term oral corticosteroid use is rare, in contrast to adults where steroid related morbidity accounts for a large proportion of the costs of severe asthma. Atopic sensitization is very common in children with severe asthma as are other atopic conditions such as allergic rhinitis and hay fever which can impact on asthma control. In adults, the role of allergic driven disease, even in those with co-existent evidence of sensitization, is unclear. There is currently an exciting pipeline of novel biologicals, particularly directed at Type 2 inflammation, which afford the possibility of improved asthma control and reduced treatment side effects for people with asthma. However, not all drugs will work for all patients and accurate phenotyping is essential. In adults the terms T2 high and T2 low asthma have been coined to describe groups of patients based on the presence/absence of eosinophilic inflammation and T-helper 2 (TH2) cytokines. Bronchoscopic studies in children with severe asthma have demonstrated that these children are predominantly eosinophilic but the cytokine patterns do not fit the T2 high paradigm suggesting other steroid resistant pathways are driving the eosinophilic inflammation. It remains to be seen whether treatments developed for adult severe asthma will be effective in children and which biomarkers will predict response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Fleming
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London and Royal Brompton Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Liam Heaney
- Centre for Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Institute for Health Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
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11
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Abstract
The recent Lancet commission has highlighted that "asthma" should be used to describe a clinical syndrome of wheeze, breathlessness, chest tightness, and sometimes cough. The next step is to deconstruct the airway into components of fixed and variable airflow obstruction, inflammation, infection and altered cough reflex, setting the airway disease in the context of extra-pulmonary co-morbidities and social and environmental factors. The emphasis is always on delineating treatable traits, including variable airflow obstruction caused by airway smooth muscle constriction (treated with short- and long-acting β-2 agonists), eosinophilic airway inflammation (treated with inhaled corticosteroids) and chronic bacterial infection (treated with antibiotics with benefit if it is driving the disease). It is also important not to over-treat the untreatable, such as fixed airflow obstruction. These can all be determined using simple, non-invasive tests such as spirometry before and after acute administration of a bronchodilator (reversible airflow obstruction); peripheral blood eosinophil count, induced sputum, exhaled nitric oxide (airway eosinophilia); and sputum or cough swab culture (bacterial infection). Additionally, the pathophysiology of risk domains must be considered: these are risk of an asthma attack, risk of poor airway growth, and in pre-school children, risk of progression to eosinophilic school age asthma. Phenotyping the airway will allow more precise diagnosis and targeted treatment, but it is important to move to endotypes, especially in the era of increasing numbers of biologicals. Advances in -omics technology allow delineation of pathways, which will be particularly important in TH2 low eosinophilic asthma, and also pauci-inflammatory disease. It is very important to appreciate the difficulties of cluster analysis; a patient may have eosinophilic airway disease because of a steroid resistant endotype, because of non-adherence to basic treatment, and a surge in environmental allergen burden. Sophisticated -omics approaches will be reviewed in this manuscript, but currently they are not being used in clinical practice. However, even while they are being evaluated, management of the asthmas can and should be improved by considering the pathophysiologies of the different airway diseases lumped under that umbrella term, using simple, non-invasive tests which are readily available, and treating accordingly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Bush
- Departments of Paediatrics and Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Royal Brompton Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
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12
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Bush A, Fleming L, Saglani S. Severe asthma in children. Respirology 2017; 22:886-897. [PMID: 28543931 DOI: 10.1111/resp.13085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Revised: 04/21/2017] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Most children with asthma have their disease easily controlled if low-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) are regularly and correctly administered. If a child presents with asthma which is apparently resistant to therapy with high-dose ICS and other controllers, then they have problematic severe asthma. However, in light of the UK National Review of Asthma Deaths, definitions of severe asthma based solely on the levels of prescribed treatment are too narrow. A detailed assessment of all such children should be performed. First, the diagnosis of asthma should be confirmed, then co-morbidities assessed. Next, a nurse-led assessment further characterizes the problem, conventionally categorizing the child as either having difficult asthma or severe therapy-resistant asthma. Here, we reassess in particular the interactions between, and management of, these two categories, highlighting that this dichotomous classification may need reconsideration. We use bronchoscopy and an intramuscular steroid injection to determine if the child has steroid-resistant asthma, using a novel, multidomain approach because the adult definition does not apply to around half the children we see. Finally, we highlight some mechanistic data which have emerged from this protocol such as the absence of T-helper 2 (TH2) cytokines even in eosinophilic severe asthma and the potential role of the innate epithelial cytokine IL-33, novel data on lineage negative innate lymphoid cells, which we can measure in induced sputum, and demonstrating that intraepithelial neutrophils are associated with better, not worse asthma outcomes. Severe paediatric asthma is very different from severe asthma in adults, and approaches must not be uncritically extrapolated from adult disease to children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Bush
- Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College and Royal Brompton Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Louise Fleming
- Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College and Royal Brompton Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Sejal Saglani
- Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College and Royal Brompton Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
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