Efficacy of a Non-Pharmacological Intervention in Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis Symptoms.

Background: Patients suffering from allergic rhinitis seek for several therapeutic symptomatic options, including nonconventional treatments, to control their symptoms.

Objectives: Through the present proof-of-concept study, we prospectively investigated the potential role of Puressentiel® nasal protection spray (SNPA) in patients suffering from cypress pollen allergic rhinitis.

Methods: In 15 adults, we performed two nasal provocation tests, with a cypress pollen extract, with a 15-day interval, with and without previous randomized administration of SNPA, and evaluated a nasal symptom score, the nasal inspiratory peak flow, and the concentration of inflammatory cytokines in the nasal lavage after the procedures.

Proteomic profiling of serum identifies a molecular signature that correlates with clinical outcomes in COPD.

Objective: Novel biomarkers related to main clinical hallmarks of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a heterogeneous disorder with pulmonary and extra-pulmonary manifestations, were investigated by profiling the serum levels of 1305 proteins using Slow Off-rate Modified Aptamers (SOMA)scan technology.

Methods: Serum samples were collected from 241 COPD subjects in the multicenter French Cohort of Bronchial obstruction and Asthma to measure the expression of 1305 proteins using SOMAscan proteomic platform. Clustering of the proteomics was applied to identify disease subtypes and their functional annotation and association with key clinical parameters were examined.

Contribution of rapid lateral flow assays from capillary blood specimens to the diagnosis of COVID-19 in symptomatic healthcare workers: a pilot study in a university hospital, Paris, France.

Background: This study aimed to assess, by rapid tests, the immune status against COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers (HCW) with history of symptoms, and for whom SARS-CoV-2 detection was either not documented or negative.

Methods: Whole blood by finger prick and serum samples were taken from HCW for use with 2 rapid lateral flow tests and an automated immunoassay.

Results: Seventy-two HCWs were included, median duration between symptoms onset and serology sampling was 68 days.

Clinical and histopathologic predictors of therapeutic response to bronchial thermoplasty in severe refractory asthma.

Background: Phenotypes and endotypes predicting optimal response to bronchial thermoplasty (BT) in patients with severe asthma remain elusive.

Objective: Our aim was to compare the clinical characteristics and hallmarks of airway inflammation and remodeling before and after BT in responder and partial responder patients with severe asthma refractory to oral steroids and to omalizumab.

Methods: In all, 23 patients with severe refractory asthma were divided into BT responders (n = 15) and BT partial responders (n = 8), according to the decrease in asthma exacerbations at 12 months after BT.

Focal bronchial dilatations after thermoplasty for severe asthma.

https://bit.ly/2AYuhMj.

IL-33-ST2 axis regulates myeloid cell differentiation and activation enabling effective club cell regeneration.

Evidence points to an indispensable function of macrophages in tissue regeneration, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here we demonstrate a protective function for the IL-33-ST2 axis in bronchial epithelial repair, and implicate ST2 in myeloid cell differentiation. ST2 deficiency in mice leads to reduced lung myeloid cell infiltration, abnormal alternatively activated macrophage (AAM) function, and impaired epithelial repair post naphthalene-induced injury.

Prospective, Single-Arm, Longitudinal Study of Biomarkers in Real-World Patients with Severe Asthma.

Background: ARIETTA was a prospective, single-arm, noninterventional, multicenter study in patients with severe asthma.

Objective: To examine the predictive and prognostic abilities of type 2 biomarkers for severe asthma outcomes.

Methods: Adult patients with severe asthma receiving daily inhaled corticosteroids (fluticasone propionate ≥500 μg or equivalent) and ≥1 second controller medication were enrolled.

An IgG-induced neutrophil activation pathway contributes to human drug-induced anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis is a systemic acute hypersensitivity reaction that is considered to depend on allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies and histamine release by mast cells and basophils. Nevertheless, allergen-specific IgG antibodies have been proposed to contribute when the allergen is an abundant circulating large molecule, e.g.

European consensus meeting/statement on Bronchial Thermoplasty Who? Where? How?

Background: Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) is a bronchoscopic treatment for severe asthma. Following research trials there remains a need to guide BT treatment in clinical practice, specifically in the fields of patient assessment, selection and positioning of BT within the range of treatment modalities, BT treatment protocols and post-BT management and follow-up. Consensus statements can bridge the gap between evidence-based medicine and real world clinical practice.

CCR10 ILC2s with ILC1-like properties exhibit a protective function in severe allergic asthma.

Background: We previously showed that patients with severe allergic asthma have high numbers of circulating ILC2s expressing CCR10.

Method: Herein, CCR10 ILC2s were further analyzed in the blood of healthy individuals or patients with allergic and non-allergic asthma. Characteristics of human CCR10 and CCR10 ILC2s were assessed by flow cytometry as well as single-cell multiplex RT-qPCR.

Clinical and economic burden of severe asthma: A French cohort study.

Objective: To describe the clinical and economic burden of severe asthma in France over 12 months.

Methods: Data were retrieved from the observational, prospective "Cohorte Obstruction Bronchique et Asthme" (COBRA) cohort, which has enrolled nearly 1000 asthma patients since 2007 from throughout France. Patients undergoing treatment with GINA step-4 or 5 medications uninterruptedly for 12 months (thus defining "severe asthma") were identified and their clinical data used to describe the clinical burden of asthma (exacerbations, symptoms outside exacerbations, and level of asthma control).

Characteristics of patients with severe, uncontrolled, eosinophilic asthma enrolled in a French cohort.

Background And Objective: Benralizumab (Fasenra) has recently been approved as add-on maintenance treatment for adult patients with severe eosinophilic asthma inadequately controlled despite high-dosage inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting β-agonists. We aimed to identify and describe the clinical characteristics and disease burden of patients with severe, uncontrolled, eosinophilic asthma in France who may be eligible for treatment with benralizumab.

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of a prospective, noninterventional, observational study of patients in France enrolled in the Asthma and Bronchial Obstruction Cohort (COBRA).

Anti-parietal cell autoimmunity is associated with an accelerated decline of lung function in IPF patients.

Background: Autoantibodies against lung epithelial antigens are often detected in patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). Anti-Parietal Cell Antibodies (APCA) target the H+/K+ATPase (proton pump). APCA prevalence and lung H+/K+ATPase expression was never studied in IPF patients.

Clinical and biological characteristics of the French COBRA cohort of adult subjects with asthma.

The COhort of BRonchial obstruction and Asthma (COBRA) is a longitudinal cohort that involves 12 French academic institutions. DNA, serum samples and clinical data are collected at entry and every 6 months thereafter.Of 1080 patients with asthma recruited between 2007 and 2015, 401 had mild/moderate and 613 had severe asthma.

Effector and regulatory dendritic cells display distinct patterns of miRNA expression.

Introduction: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to the regulation of dendritic cell (DC) polarization, thereby influencing the balance of adaptive immune responses. Herein, we studied the expression of miRNAs in polarized DCs and analyzed whether expression of these miRNAs could be associated with allergic rhinitis and allergen immunotherapy (AIT) outcome.

Method: Using specific culture conditions, we differentiated immature human monocyte-derived DCs into DC1, DC2, and DCreg subsets (supporting the differentiation of T 1, T 2 or regulatory T cells, respectively).

Early computed tomography modifications following bronchial thermoplasty in patients with severe asthma.

Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a recent, promising and well-tolerated technique for the treatment of severe asthma. By delivering thermal energy to the airway wall, this procedure can induce early pulmonary opacities seen on computed tomography (CT). We aimed to examine early CT modifications induced by BT and to determine their association with respiratory symptoms.

Effectiveness of bronchial thermoplasty in patients with severe refractory asthma: Clinical and histopathologic correlations.

Background: The effectiveness of bronchial thermoplasty (BT) has been reported in patients with severe asthma, yet its effect on different bronchial structures remains unknown.

Objective: We sought to examine the effect of BT on bronchial structures and to explore the association with clinical outcome in patients with severe refractory asthma.

Methods: Bronchial biopsy specimens (n = 300) were collected from 15 patients with severe uncontrolled asthma before and 3 months after BT.

Perip7lakin is a target for autoimmunity in asthma.

The role of autoimmunity targeting epithelial antigens in asthma has been suggested, in particular in non-atopic and severe asthma. Periplakin, a desmosomal component, is involved in epithelial cohesion and intracellular signaling. We detected anti-periplakin IgG antibodies in 47/260 (18 %) patients with asthma, with no association with severity or atopy.

Assessing biomarkers in a real-world severe asthma study (ARIETTA).

The prognostic value of asthma biomarkers in routine clinical practice is not fully understood. ARIETTA (NCT02537691) is an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal, international, multicentre real-world study designed to assess the relationship between asthma biomarkers and disease-related health outcomes. The trial aims to enrol and follow for 52 weeks approximately 1200 severe asthma patients from approximately 160 sites in more than 20 countries.

Airway smooth muscle enlargement is associated with protease-activated receptor 2/ligand overexpression in patients with difficult-to-control severe asthma.

Background: Asthma is a complex disease with heterogeneous features of airway inflammation and remodeling. The increase in airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass is an essential component of airway remodeling in patients with severe asthma, yet the pathobiological mechanisms and clinical outcomes associated with ASM enlargement remain elusive.

Objective: We sought to compare ASM area in control subjects and patients with mild-to-moderate or severe asthma and to identify specific clinical and pathobiological characteristics associated with ASM enlargement.