Hematological and Biochemical Profile of Patients Suffering from Non-Atopic Asthma

Abstract

Background: The prevalence rate of asthma is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide and number of patients with asthma is projected to reach 100 million by 2025. Few tests are being used for diagnosis of asthma, but at present no established biomarker is available which may be used for diagnosis and prognosis of asthma. Main aim of this study was to investigate the potential of routine hematological and biochemical parameters as reliable diagnostic biomarker(s) of asthma. Methods and findings: We performed hematological and biochemical analysis by following standard clinical methods using Sysmex and Spectra. Results: Many hematological and biochemical parameters were either upregulated (i.e., Hb, WBC, LYM#, MXD#, NEUT#, NEUT%, Albumin/Globulin ratio, cholesterol, creatinine, urea, blood urea nitrogen, Na+ and K+) or down-regulated (i.e., MPV, LYM%, total protein, globulin, bilirubin, AST and ALT) in both male and female asthma patients as compared to the gender specific normal controls. However, few parameters (RDW, HCT, MCH, MCV, RBCs, CK-NAC, CK-MB-NAC, albumin, triglycerides, and HDL-C) exhibited gender specific variations (p<0.05). Conclusion: To our knowledge this study is the first to confirm the role of hematological and biochemical parameters in the pathogenesis of asthma. We suggest that combinatorial use of multiple parameters can be helpful for asthma diagnosis.