the prevalence of both obesity and asthma has increased in recent years. thus we decided to investigate the relation between obesity and asthma severity. we undertook a cross-sectional study in outpatient asthma clinics of 2 tertiary hospitals in tehran. obesity was defined as a body mass index greater than 30. asthma severity was defined by using the guide for asthma management and prevention ...

BACKGROUND Several comorbid conditions may contribute to worsening asthma symptoms, including nasal polyps (NPs). Cysteinyl leukotrienes (Cys-LTs) play a crucial role in asthma pathophysiology, and specific receptors for CysLTs are reported as upregulated in nasal polyp tissues. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of nasal polyps in severe vs. mild and moderate asthma, and...

BACKGROUND The morbidity associated with severe uncontrolled asthma is disproportionately higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. The aim of this study was to describe the phenotypic characteristics of difficult-to-treat severe asthma and treatment-resistant severe asthma in a sample of children and adolescents in Brazil. METHODS This was a prospective study,...

Asthma studies suggest that alteration in the inflammation pattern may be associated with the severity of asthma. The aim of this study was to compare in vitro the expression of chemokines, chemokine receptors and cytokine production from CD4+ T human lymphocytes of asthmatic, both obese and non-obese patients with different severity levels of asthma. Lymphocytes were labeled with monoclonal an...

chemokines and their receptors  play an important  role in the  late inflammatory stage of asthma. in this study, we aimed to investigate polymorphisms of mcp-1 (ccl2), ccr2 and ccr5 which can affect qualitatively and/or quantitatively their production and thus influence both susceptibility and severity of asthma and its clinical and biological features. mcp-1   (a/g   -2518),  ccr2   (+/64i), ...

BACKGROUND Neutrophils are increased in the airways and in induced sputum of severe asthma patients. We determined the expression of activation markers from circulating neutrophils in severe asthma, and their supressibility by corticosteroids. METHODS We compared blood neutrophils from mild, moderate-to-severe and severe steroid-dependent asthma, and non-asthmatics (n = 10 each). We examined ...

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, in which asthmatic patients present with different clinical phenotypes, variable endotypes, and different response to asthma medicines. Thus, we are faced with an asthma paradox; asthma is diagnosed subjectively by clinical history and treated with biologically active drugs. To solve this paradox, we need objective airway biomarkers to tailor the proper medica...

BACKGROUND About 5-10% of patients with asthma suffer from poorly controlled disease despite corticosteroid (CS) treatment, which may indicate the presence of CS insensitivity. A study was undertaken to determine whether relative CS insensitivity is present in alveolar macrophages from patients with severe asthma and its association with p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation an...

Little is known about the features of asthma and allergy in the elderly. A significant number of elderly patients with asthma have uncontrolled and severe asthma. This review aims to provide an analysis of the literature on the assessment and phenotype of severe allergic asthma in the elderly. Gaps and pitfalls in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, as well as management of severe allergic a...

BACKGROUND The concepts of asthma severity, control, and exacerbation are important in the evaluation of patients and their response to treatment. However, terminology is not standardized, and terms are often used interchangeably. Patients with uncontrolled severe asthma pose a major health care problem. Over the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that, in order to facilitate the dev...