Current guidelines recommend inhaled steroids as the first line control medication in the treatment of asthma. However, many patients particularly with airway obstruction need bronchodilators either as a symptom reliever or control medication to provide relaxation of bronchiolar smooth muscles. Both short acting and long acting beta-2 agonists (SABA and LABA) are of particular importance among ...

Sarcopenia is characterized by two major phenotypic components: low handgrip strength (HGS) and appendicular lean mass index (ASMI). Oral corticosteroid (OCS) use an important medication for acute respiratory exacerbations in patients with COPD asthma. However, the association of OCS sarcopenia components older people are largely unexplored. To examine between HGS or ASMI general population exp...

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, affecting over 300 million people. It is an inflammatory disorder characterized by bronchoconstriction and airway hyperresponsiveness, followed by inflammatory manifestations in the respiratory system. The prevalence of asthma is rising and there is a clinical need to develop more effective treatments. While corticosteroids (glucoc...

BACKGROUND Corticosteroid insensitivity is a major barrier of treatment for some chronic inflammatory diseases, such as severe asthma, but the molecular mechanism of the insensitivity has not been fully elucidated. The object of this study is to investigate the role of protein phosphate 2A (PP2A), a serine/threonine phosphatase, on corticosteroid sensitivity in severe asthma. METHODOLOGY/PRIN...

BACKGROUND Fetal growth inhibition is a known sequelae of in utero glucocorticoid exposure and has long-term consequences for adult health. Sex-specific fetal growth patterns are observed in pregnancies with maternal asthma and may be due to differential sensitivity of the placenta to glucocorticoids. It is currently unknown whether expression of the placental glucocorticoid receptor (GR) becom...

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of systemic corticosteroid-induced morbidity in severe asthma. DESIGN Cross-sectional observational study. SETTING The primary care Optimum Patient Care Research Database and the British Thoracic Society Difficult Asthma Registry. PARTICIPANTS Optimum Patient Care Research Database (7195 subjects in three age- and gender-matched groups)-severe asthma ...

BACKGROUND Difficult-to-control asthma has been associated with gastroesophageal acid reflux. Acid-suppressive treatment has been inconsistent in improving asthma control. OBJECTIVE To determine whether a proton-pump inhibitor improves asthma control in adult asthmatic patients with acid reflux symptoms. DESIGN Multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Twent...