Association of serum periostin levels with asthma control status and severity in children

Abstract

Objectives Periostin is a promising indicator in the pathogenesis of T-helper type-2 allergic reactions. This study aimed to identify the relationship between serum periostin levels and asthma control in children. Procedure In this study, 90 children were recruited and grouped as follows: 30 children in a control group (group I), and another group comprising 60 children with physician-diagnosed asthma (group II). The control status and severity of asthma in patients were assessed in accordance with the recent Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines. Serum periostin concentrations were examined in all enrolled patients using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results The median (interquartile range) periostin levels of asthmatic children were substantially higher than those of healthy children [23 (13.1, 48) vs. 15 (10.5, 24); P = 0.015]. Based on a simple logistic regression analysis, serum periostin concentrations strongly correlated with asthma (odds ratio = 1.037; confidence interval = 1.008–1.066; P = 0.012). In a receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, the area under the curve for serum periostin was 0.984, with 100% sensitivity and 95.35% specificity in detecting uncontrolled asthma. Conclusion Serum periostin levels were shown to be a helpful biomarker for assessing childhood asthma control in children.