The monitoring of sputum eosinophils has received certain attention as a tool for improving asthma management both in children and in adults. The present paper reviews the technique and also the usefulness of induced sputum in the diagnosis and assessment of asthma, together with its ability to predict the response to treatment and to anticipate asthma exacerbations. Special attention is addressed to childhood asthma. The authors conclude that due to cost-effectiveness reasons derived from high labour costs, together with the unpleasantness of the technique and the failure to obtain adequate samples in a non-negligible percentage of children, this technique should be only used for research purposes.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aller.2009.10.006 | DOI Listing |
Sci Transl Med
January 2025
Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada.
In prednisone-dependent severe asthma, uncontrolled sputum eosinophilia is associated with increased numbers of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s). These cells represent a relatively steroid-insensitive source of interleukin-5 (IL-5) and IL-13 and are considered critical drivers of asthma pathology. The abundance of ILC subgroups in severe asthma with neutrophilic or mixed granulocytic (both eosinophilic and neutrophilic) airway inflammation, prone to recurrent infective exacerbations, remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Bronconeumol
January 2025
Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address:
Objectives: To investigate the microbiota and metabolome of patients with ABO compared with bronchiectasis and asthma, and determine the relevance with clinical characteristics, inflammatory endotype and exacerbation risks.
Methods: In this prospective cohort study, patients underwent comprehensive assessments, including sputum differential cell count, and sputum collection at baseline. Sputum microbiota was profiled via 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolome via liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.
Cutis
November 2024
Dr. Bloomquist is from the School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia. Dr. Elston is from the Department of Dermatology & Dermatologic Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.
Hookworm infection represents a major global disease burden, in terms of both morbidity and economic impact, and there has been a resurgence of hookworms in developed nations where these parasites were once thought to be eradicated. Hookworms can infest humans or other mammals as their primary hosts depending on the species. The 2 most common species that seek human hosts-Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale-enter the body through the epidermis, and hookworm infection may manifest as a pruritic and papular inflammatory reaction know as ground itch.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomolecules
December 2024
Laboratory of Pulmonology, Department of Pulmonology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT-44307 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Eosinophils are central inflammatory cells in asthma; however, a portion of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have blood or sputum eosinophilia, a condition termed eosinophilic COPD (eCOPD), which may contribute to the progression of the disease. We hypothesize that eosinophilic inflammation in eCOPD patients is related to Type 2 (T2)-high inflammation seen in asthma and that serum mediators might help us to identify T2-high inflammation in patients and choose an appropriate personalized treatment strategy. Thus, we aimed to investigate ten serum levels of T2-high inflammation mediators in eCOPD patients and compare them to severe non-allergic eosinophilic asthma (SNEA) patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Asthma Allergy
December 2024
Respiratory Medicine, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Introduction: Physical inactivity due to shortness of breath is common among patients with uncontrolled asthma. We evaluated the body mass composition and exercise capacity of patients with poorly controlled asthma, despite maximal inhalation therapy.
Methods: We recruited 56 patients from the Asthma Clinic of the University Hospital of Liège between September 2020 and December 2023, and 14 healthy subjects.
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