Abstract
Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) could show bronchial inflammation directly, and very easy to collect samples. The current asthma phenotyping has a limitation that it does not fully reflect airway inflammation, and we have tried a new asthma phenotyping via EBC. In addition, basophils are major effector cells involved in the asthma, they remain unclear what exact role it plays. Therefore, we investigate the relationship between EBC cytokines and blood basophils and clinical features in asthmatics. Asthma patients were defined as who have asthma symptoms with positive bronchodilator response or airway hyperresponsiveness and have been enrolled in the Ewha Medical Center from 2017 to 2018. Information for demographics, clinical features, and exhaled breath condensates of patients were collected. Thirteen patients were enrolled with a mean age of 60.2 years and 23% men. The mean FEV1 and FEV1/FVC were 75.9% of predicted value and 74.4%, respectively. Patients with high basophils (≥50/μL) had more frequent asthma exacerbations and absence from work due to asthma, and worse asthma control status and quality of life scores, even though they had better pulmonary function than the patients with low basophils (<50/μL). In addition, IL-17 and IL-33 from EBC showed positive correlations with blood basophil counts. Basophils are thought to be a marker associated with poor control of asthma independently of pulmonary function, which were also related to EBC IL-17 and IL-33. Although larger studies are needed in the future, it is likely that basophil, EBC IL-17 and IL-33 are another criterion for asthma phenotyping.
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