Abstract
BackgroundNo reliable biological marker for the diagnosis of asthma in younger children is currently available. In this study, we analyzed the differences in basophil activation test (BAT) results among children with recurrent wheezing episodes who had different asthma outcomes.ResultsA prospective cohort study was conducted in children aged under 5 years who visited our pediatric respiratory clinic and ward for wheezing. After enrollment, the participants provided samples for a CD63-based BAT performed using an inhalant allergen mixture as a stimulant. Histories of personal allergic diseases and family allergic diseases were evaluated by using a questionnaire. All participants were followed up for 2 years, and their asthma outcomes were evaluated at the end of the follow-up period. The correlation between the BAT results and asthma outcomes was analyzed. Of the 45 originally enrolled children, 38 completed both the follow-up and a BAT. After stimulation with the inhalant mixture, the CD63 expression on basophils and the rate of positive CD63-based BAT results in children diagnosed with asthma were both significantly higher than those in children who were not diagnosed with asthma (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). For the prediction of asthma, the positive predictive value and negative predictive value of CD63-based BAT was 71.8 and 69.2%, respectively. The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio of CD63-based BAT were 1.70 and 0.3, respectively.ConclusionsOur pilot study indicates that CD63-based BAT has potential clinical value for predicting asthma outcome in young children with wheezing episodes.
Highlights
No reliable biological marker for the diagnosis of asthma in younger children is currently available
73.7% of the subjects had a history of atopic dermatitis (AD) or allergic rhinitis (AR), and 68.4% of the subjects were positive for food- or inhalant-specific immunoglobulin E
There was no significant difference in systemic glucocorticoid use between the children diagnosed with asthma and those not diagnosed with asthma (Table 1)
Summary
No reliable biological marker for the diagnosis of asthma in younger children is currently available. We analyzed the differences in basophil activation test (BAT) results among children with recurrent wheezing episodes who had different asthma outcomes. Basophils are important immune cells that are involved in allergic diseases including asthma [4]. CD63based basophil activation tests (BATs) are a useful tool (2021) 22:4 for identifying specific allergens, and monitoring immunologic homeostasis [5, 6]. Recent research has indicated that basophil allergen threshold sensitivity tests (CDsens), which are based on BATs, have potential use for monitoring specific immunotherapy [8, 9] and biological agent therapy [10]. We investigated the potential clinical value of BAT results for predicting asthma in younger children in this pilot study
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