Original Research F patients with asthma who remain uncontrolled despite inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy, a longacting inhaled b 2 -agonist (LABA) may be added. 1,2 Combination therapy improves symptoms, reduces severe exacerbation rate and achieves better asthma control in more patients than ICS monotherapy. 1,3-5 However, poor adherence to bid therapy may account for poor asthma control ...

rejection after lung transplantation. Eur Respir J 2011; 37: 164–172. 6 Sutherland ER, King TS, Icitovic N, et al. A trial of clarithromycin for the treatment of suboptimally controlled asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2010; 126: 747–753. 7 Brusselle GG, Vanderstichele C, Jordens P, et al. Azithromycin for prevention of exacerbations in severe asthma (AZISAST): a multicentre randomised double-bli...

Allergy is a significant component in many asthma patients. Omalizumab is a monoclonal anti-immunoglobulin E antibody for the treatment of allergic asthma. Clinical trials have shown that omalizumab treatment is associated with improved symptom control and reduced inhaled corticosteroid doses, resulting in fewer exacerbations and reduced utilization of resources. Omalizumab therapy may benefit ...

Eosinophilic COPD appears to be a distinct patient subgroup with an increased corticosteroid response. Eosinophilic COPD has been labelled as part of the asthma COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). We compared the clinical characteristics of eosinophilic COPD patients (without any clinical history of asthma) and COPD patients with a childhood history of asthma. COPD patients with asthma were character...

dren with asthma, the effect of endotoxin exposure on diseasemorbidity is influenced by levels of exposure to indoor nicotine and NO2. Airborne endotoxin seems to be protective against acute asthma visits and oral corticosteroid bursts in the setting of very low or no air nicotine exposure, whereas it is associated with worse asthma morbidity in the setting of high indoor air nicotine exposure....

The treatment of chronic severe asthma is unsatisfactory for many patients. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of treatment of steroid-dependent asthma with cyclosporin. We performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel group trial on the effect of cyclosporin on pulmonary function, asthma severity and tapering of prednisone in 34 steroid-dependent asthmatics ...

BACKGROUND T regulatory (Treg) cells are important in balancing immune responses and dysregulation of Treg cells has been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple disease states including asthma. In this study, our primary aim was to determine Treg cell frequency in the peripheral blood of children with and without asthma. The secondary aim was to explore the association between Treg cell fre...

The aim of this study was to verify FeNO usefulness, as a marker of bronchial inflammation, in the assessment of therapeutic management of childhood asthma. We performed a prospective 1-year randomized clinical trial evaluating two groups of 32 children with allergic asthma: "GINA group", in which therapy was assessed only by GINA guidelines and "FeNO group", who followed a therapeutic program ...

Exacerbations of asthma during pregnancy represent a significant clinical problem and may be related to poor pregnancy outcomes. A systematic review of the literature was conducted for publications related to exacerbations during pregnancy. Four studies with a control group (no asthma) and two groups of women with asthma (exacerbation, no exacerbation) were included in meta-analyses using fixed...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Asthma and depression are common health problems in primary care. Evidence of a relationship between asthma and depression is conflicting. OBJECTIVES to determine 1. The incidence rate and incidence rate ratio of depression in primary care patients with asthma compared to those without asthma, and 2. The standardized mortality ratio of depressed compared to non-depre...