Page 145 - ADULT-ONSET ASTHMA PREDICTORS OF CLINICAL COURSE AND SEVERITY
P. 145
PREDICTORS OF FREQUENT EXACERBATIONS IN (EX)SMOKING AND NEVER SMOKING ADULTS WITH SEVERE ASTHMA
INTRODUCTION
Asthma exacerba ons impose a major burden on pa ents’ lives and account for a large part of asthma related health care costs.1 The importance of persistent eosinophilic airway in amma on in asthma exacerba ons has been recognized for many years.2 Increased levels of sputum eosinophils precede and predict exacerba ons.3,4 Adjus ng an -in ammatory treatment based on sputum eosinophil level has been shown to reduce asthma exacerba ons.5,6 Moreover, suppression of eosinophils with an bodies directed against interleukin (IL)-5 leads to a 50% reduc on in exacerba on frequency.7,8 However, in the majority of asthma studies only non-smoking pa ents were included.9 Whether airway eosinophilia is also a predictor of asthma exacerba ons in current and exsmoking asthma pa ents is not known.
In the present study we hypothesized that airway eosinophilia is a predictor of asthma exacerba ons in both never smokers and (ex)smokers. Therefore we inves gated factors associated with frequent exacerba ons in never smokers and (ex)smokers with asthma.
143
